CA to announce mega deal with Commonwealth Bank

Sydney: Cricket Australia (CA) is poised to announce a new mega deal, estimated to be worth almost 50 million dollars over four years, with Commonwealth Bank of Australia, which will make the bank CA`s primary sponsor.

Overcoming widespread pessimism about the national team`s Ashes prospects to seal sponsorship deals for its home Test and one-day series, CA`s new deal with the bank will probably resolve the tussles for its naming-rights deals for international matches. According to a report, the new deal will result in shifting the Commonwealth Bank from the men`s 50-over matches to the Tests, in time for this summer`s Ashes series against England until at least the end of the 2016-17 season. The report further said that the Commonwealth Bank has sponsored Australia`s home one-day matches for the past six years, and also has smaller deals involving the Southern Stars national women`s team, the Big Bash League and Cricket Victoria. According to the report, the vacancy to be left by the bank for the one-dayers is believed to have already been filled in a deal said to be worth about 35 million dollars over five years. The agreements, when confirmed, will represent a significant off-field milestone for CA, which finished the summer needing to resolve two major commercial issues well before the home Ashes series: the sponsorships and the now-lapsed television broadcast rights. CA has officially been searching for a new Test sponsor since June last year, when Vodafone announced it would let its sponsorship lapse after an 11-year tenure. ANI