Sri Lanka team bought for Rs.1330 million

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Sri Lanka Cricket will sign a lucrative joint sponsorship with Dialog Axiata and the Sri Lanka Tea Board for the national team for a period of three years, Sri Lanka Cricket sources confirmed yesterday.

Accordingly Dialog whose targeted audience is within the country will share the sponsorship with the Sri Lanka Tea Board which is looking at branding its product internationally.

The new sponsorship from Dialog and the Tea Board has brought Sri Lanka Cricket a sum of Rs. 1330 million which is more than double the current sponsorship deal with Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel which expires by end of this month.

Officials confirmed after negotiation that Dialog agreed to buy the sponsorship rights for a sum of Rs. 750 million while the Tea Board will pay a sum of Rs. 580 million for the rights on their part.

Dialog, the leading mobile telecommunication operator in the country and the Sri Lanka Tea Board, a government institution, made individual offers in excess of Rs. 1000 million with the former making the biggest ever offer in the history of Sri Lanka cricket which was a colossal Rs. 1077 million.

Tenders were called by SLC from interested parties to appoint the new sponsor for the men’s and women’s national teams for a period of three years starting from June 2013.

The current sponsorship with Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel which was signed in 2009 for a sum of US$4.85 million (Rs. 600 million) ends on March 31.