---

BCCI Awards IPL 2020 Title Sponsorship Rights to Dream11

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has awarded the title sponsorship rights of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 to Dream11, a fantasy cricket league platform. Dream11 won the bid for INR 250 Crores outbidding Unacademy (INR 210 crore), Tata Sons (INR 180 crore) and Byju’s (INR 125 crore), according to sources.

BCCI had confirmed at the start of August, that Vivo will not be the title sponsor for this year’s IPL, which begins in the UAE next month. The deal fell through after the Boycott China campaign began after the India-China standoff at the Galwan Valley in Ladakh in June.

The short statement had kept the window open for a possible return the following year and opportunities have risen for potential replacements to swoop in for the deal. Dream11 has been partnering with IPL for INR 40 Crores as an associate partner and it is learnt that Dream11 won the IPL title right for 2020 on the strength of their financial bid. On 14 August, Tata Sons, a giant in the industry with varied business interests and a supporter of Olympic sports for decades submitted its interest to sponsor the tournament and was the top contender since its credentials were seen as the perfect match for BCCI. 

Dream11 is already a big spender on cricket, they are associated with at least six IPL teams and also with the International Cricket Council (ICC). The fantasy cricket league platform gets funding from the Chinese company, Tencent but insiders say their bid this time was fuelled by a major Indian telecom. 

When the BCCI asked for bids for the IPL 2020 title rights last week, it had clearly said that they will not award rights to the third party which basically means after submitting an Expression of Interest (EOI) they will have to pay the highest fees in the course of negotiation. BCCI also mentioned that the decision will be made of a number of relevant factors such as the potential impact on the brand IPL and the effects it could have on the fan or viewer experience.

IPL 2020 will be played from 19 September to 10 November 2020. The 53-day tournament will witness afternoon matches starting at 15:30 IST while the evening matches will start at 19:30 IST. For more updates on Fantasy Sports, keep reading GutshotMagazine.com

---

---

Comments