In 2010, 10 companies were in the bid to win the title sponsorship of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). In 2015, the race had come down to just two players – Micromax and Paytm.

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Paytm’s founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma had then said he aims to reach 500 million user base and to reach that kind of audience, a mass market property like cricket would help. “Indian cricket team, come what may, will always be followed by Indians,” he said.

Cut to 2022, Paytm wants to exit as the title sponsor for international and domestic cricket matches in India and has requested the board to transfer its rights to Mastercard.

The agreement between Paytm and the BCCI runs from September 2019 to March 31, 2023. However, the company had missed the July timeline to request for reassignment of the sponsorship.

Paytm refused to comment on the development when CNBC-TV18 reached out to the company. But, considering the “longstanding" relationship between the two parties, the BCCI will consider Paytm’s request.

“Paytm has requested the BCCI for reassignment, and the board is considering it," News18 cited a source as saying.

Paytm had extended its association as the title sponsor by four years in August 2019, with a winning bid of Rs 3.80 crore per match.

Paytm's request to BCCI comes even as the company recently posted a positive business update and said that its total loan value during the June quarter increased almost nine times or 779 percent year-on-year (YoY).

Byju's alleged dues

Not just Paytm, another sponsor — Edtech major Byju’s, the jersey sponsor for the Indian cricket team, allegedly owes Rs 86.21 crore in dues to BCCI. The issue was discussed by the BCCI apex council on Thursday.

"As of today, Byju's owes dues of Rs 86.21 crore to the Board," a BCCI source told PTI after the meeting.

However, a Byju's spokesperson told PTI: "We have extended the contract with the BCCI, but it is not yet signed. After the contract signing, the payments will happen per the contractual payment terms. So, no dues are pending from our side."

Byju's first came on board back in 2019 when mobile manufacturer Oppo transferred the sponsorship rights to the online tutorial firm.

With inputs from PTI

First Published:Jul 22, 2022 2:11 PM IST