Brands made villains for BCCI folly?

Mumbai: The BCCI's decision to cap player endorsements to three per player has got brands and sports agents miffed. But given the can't-do-without-cricket syndrome it seems the BCCI will get away with it.

In 2006 with 23 brands, M S Dhoni was the biggest cricket endorser. Today, that number is down to about 17. And if the BCCI has its way, when these contracts run out, Dhoni, like other cricketers, will have to do with just three.

In its post mortem of the Indian team's World Cup debacle, the BCCI has put quite a bit of the blame on players' sponsors and managers.

From calling them distractions to alluding to the influence of sports managers on team selection, to hinting that cricketers like Saurav Ganguly played slowly because of a clause with sponsor Puma, brands are being painted the villains in India's cricket love story.

Sharda Agarwal, Director of Market Gate, says, "Most of these brands are MNCs, who don't want to take on BCCI or the government, they are controversial subjects, so you are playing a balance between creating unnecessary controversy and at the same time, look after your interests. That's why I think the BCCI will obviously have their say. Beyond a point, they can't be very outspoken."

Shailendra Singh, Joint CEO of Percept Holdings says, "Not right now, they are sort of fence sitters for now, but most of the contracts till now were never questioned. They were straight forward contracts. The performance sort of aspect it was, actually what it means, is that the gentleman or the brand or the cricketer has to play cricket for the country so many days, so most of the contracts you'll find if the cricketer does not play for a 100 days on a continuous period, then obviously he doesn't qualify."

But the BCCI's rule of three will come into force only once the existing contracts run out and many of these contracts are long term ones.

The BCCI still accepts little responsibility for the World Cup debacle. And corporates are forced to stick with cricket due to lack of another sport that rivals its popularity.

(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)

#player endorsements #bcci #brands #reaction