The Badminton Association of India has signed a lucrative extension to its partnership with Japanese sports equipment manufacturer Yonex.
The new deal will run for four years and, according to the InsideSport website, will be worth Rs100 crore (€12.5m/$14.9m). InsideSport reported that the BAI becomes the first Indian national federation for an Olympic discipline to agree a deal of this size.
Yonex will provide the BAI with racquets, clothing, accessories and other equipment as part of the deal.
India is a leading badminton nation and picked up 10 medals in the sport during the recent Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia. India’s P.V. Sindhu (pictured) also won a silver medal in the women’s singles at the 2016 summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Vikram Dhar, country manager for Yonex Sunrise Sport, said: “We have had a very long relationship with the BAI and as partners we have been instrumental in the development of the game from grassroots to the highest of level. Badminton still has a long way to go in India with the potential to be an Indian sports powerhouse. We are glad to be the partners in this remarkable journey for Indian badminton.
The new contract represents a significant increase on the current deal worth Rs1 crore per year. Dhar added: “That (premium) may be the irony of a pleasant situation. As long as the game goes bigger one needs to go with the flow. When the game grows big, the price tag goes up. We are glad that it is for the development of the game. The price tag reflects the true value of the game.”