ICC says ambush marketing
protections will stay
The International Cricket Council on Monday advised all boards that it will not change the ambush marketing protection given to the ICC’s commercial sponsors.
In a letter to all chief executives, ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed reiterated the importance of these protections to the sport and called on all boards to meet their obligation to send their best teams to the ICC Champions Trophy.
Earlier on Monday, The Board of Control for Cricket in India withheld the announcement of its team for the Champions Trophy, to be held in Sri Lanka from September 12 to 29, saying it is "waiting for communication from the ICC on the issue of players' contracts".
The ICC said it is protecting its commercial partners by ensuring that their competitors are unable to associate with the event.
In the letter, Speed stated that the ICC's stance in protecting its commercial partners is consistent with other sports and based on cricket’s previous experience.
"Two of the main beneficiaries from the ICC rights agreement are the boards and the players," Speed said.
"More than US $102 million will be going to these stakeholders from the next two ICC events. Prize-money alone will be more than US $6 million, with the World Cup prize-money rising from US $1 million in 1999 to US $5 million in 2003.
"At the same time, each full member will receive more than US $8.850 million in distributions," he added.
In 2000, based on agreements in place for the 1999 World Cup, all boards, through the ICC, agreed to a number of sponsorship and personal endorsement restrictions in return for $US550 million for the commercial rights to ICC events through until 2007.
The ICC is to distribute a record US $102 million of this income to the boards and the players from the ICC Champions Trophy and the ICC World Cup in 2003.
In addition to this payment, South Africa will receive tens of millions of dollars to stage the tournament, including the funding for ground redevelopment and infrastructure while US $13 million is to go directly to fund the development of the game around the world. In return, the ICC is seeking to ensure that the agreements previously reached with the boards are adhered to.
"Every major sporting event provides protection to their partners and anyone involved in elite sport would recognise that this is an essential component of being able to stage these events.
"In structuring these agreements, ICC has used the experience of previous cricket World Cups. As a result, the protections in place today largely duplicate those that have existed previously, in particular the protections that were in place for the 1999 Cricket World Cup in England.
"It is also worth noting that these conditions are also less onerous than those imposed on similar events. For example the Olympics does not allow any competitor to act as a media correspondent during the event. No such restriction exists at ICC events," Speed further pointed out in his letter.
The letter confirmed that the ICC has been in discussion with the representatives of some players about the restrictions on personal endorsements with competing sponsors but no compromise can be reached.
"The ICC is well aware of ambush marketing programs being developed in conflict with tournament sponsors. To change the agreement in the manner sought would dramatically undermine the essential protection ICC's commercial partners are entitled to enjoy," the letter says.
"ICC has now advised the player representatives that it is not able to modify the ambush marketing restrictions in these agreements."
The ICC also confirmed that seven out of 10 full members have signed their Participating Nations Agreement (PNA) for the Champions Trophy and that all full member boards have signed the PNA for the 2003 World Cup.
Under this agreement, each board is committed to sending its best team to these events and the ICC is expecting each board to meet these commitments by securing their players agreement to participate.
Speed highlighted that the negotiation of payments and other terms and conditions for players is the responsibility of the individual boards.
“The ICC has no direct commercial relationship with any player. Each board must reach its own agreements with their players as to the terms and conditions that are acceptable to them to agree to represent their country," said Speed.
In light of Monday's deadline for the submission of the player agreements for the ICC Champions Trophy, the ICC urged each chief executive to give the issue their highest priority.
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