Mumbai, Dec. 27: The Indian cricket board may hold the top spot among the richest sports bodies in the world, but it looks up to runners-up Manchester United when it comes to devising a successful business model.

“We certainly want to follow the Manchester United marketing model and are seriously working towards that end,” BCCI vice-president Lalit Modi told The Telegraph over phone.

Modi last week told a news conference that with $27.12 million, in the coffers, the BCCI was the wealthiest sports body in the world.

At a time when sports bodies the world over are grappling with funds shortage, the football giant is one of the few clubs to have raked in massive revenues, thanks to a dynamic and aggressive marketing strategy.

It has put up for sale a range of merchandise and memorabilia apart from television and ground rights.

The club also engages in joint promotional activities, for example, with mobile phone company Vodafone. Man U books, shirts, programmes, key rings and many other items are sold and promoted through its website.

The club has positioned itself at the premier end of the market, and the proof lies in the high cost of a season ticket to watch home league games.

So, how much of the Man U model will the BCCI adopt?

For starters, like the England club, the cricket board is going to be stricter with endorsement guidelines as far as using Team India to promote products goes.

This means ads like those of Samsung and Pepsi, which feature either the entire team or some of the players, may be a thing of the past.

Besides, the BCCI would also like to have greater control over players’ individual endorsement deals.

“The purpose is to ensure that there is no conflict of interest between the board’s advertisers and those the players choose to endorse. We would like to safeguard the interest of our partners,” said a senior member of the board.

“We are still looking into the entire aspect. The BCCI has so long been grossly undervalued and undersold. All that is going to change. We have an efficient team of professionals in place who understand the business thoroughly. We are going all out to pump up the BCCI’s coffers for the benefit of cricket,” said Modi.

However, unlike Manchester United, a listed company, the BCCI is a non-profit body.

According to the rulebook, any money it makes must be used to promote cricket in the country.

There are other areas, too, where the BCCI constitution might come in the way.

Former chief election commissioner T.S. Krishnamurthy, who served as an observer for the recent BCCI polls, had in his report suggested a “thorough review” of the board’s constitution.

Although there is no reason to believe yet that the possible changes would be driven by commerce, one thing is certain: the BCCI is out to prove that cricket should be run like any good business.

Many feel that Tata Consultancy Services ? which is already in talks with the cricket body ? could be engaged to suggest more ways of making a successful business of the game.