Fantasy sports platform Dream11 has won the title sponsorship for IPL 2020 for Rs 222 Crores. The BCCI’s search for a new title sponsors began this month when Vivo sensationally suspended their ties for the upcoming edition of the tournament. Vivo are likely to return as the sponsors for the next edition of IPL.
Dream11 bagged the title rights after outbidding favourites Tata Sons and education technology platforms — Byju’s and Unacademy. Earlier this month, the BCCI had asked the announced Companies with a turnover of over Rs 300 crores will be allowed to bid for the rights which are available for the period from August 18, 2020 to December 31, 2020.
Some of India’s biggest companies had bid for the title sponsorship including Tata Sons, Jio Communications and Patanjali. However, Dream11 outbid all of them to bag the rights. While Dream11’s winning bid was Rs 222 crore, Unacademy’s bid was 210 crores followed by Tatas (180 crores) and Byju’s (125 crores).
Vivo temporarily suspend ties:
Earlier this month, Vivo had sensationally pulled out as sponsors for the upcoming season. Vivo had signed a five-year deal in 2018 worth INR 2199 crore, which earned BCCI about INR 440 crore a season. The Chinese mobile manufacturing giants took the decision just a couple of days after the after the IPL Governing Council announced that it has retained all of its sponsors including Vivo for IPL 2020.
Vivo’s decision came in the wake of the deadly clashes between the Indian and Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh in June. There were calls from all around to boycott China and BCCI were facing criticism from all around for retaining Vivo as the title sponsors. But at the same time, several reports suggested that Vivo pulled out of the deal only for this year because of financial reasons.
As per reports, they were not ready to pay the huge amount when consumers are boycotting Chinese products. At the same time, Vivo would have still remained the sponsors if the tournament took place in its original slot. The smartphone makers wanted the deal deferred by a year on grounds that paying Rs 880 crore for two seasons in a span of six-seven months is not easy. While IPL 2020 is scheduled to be played from September to November, IPL 2021 is set to be played in normal time (April – May).