Dream11 has bagged the title for being the title sponsors for the Indian Premier League this year. The fantasy sports platform has made it big for three years, which may contradict the return of Vivo next year. Vivo exited from the title sponsorship of IPL this year due to the rising tensions between India and China. Post that, 5 companies Jio, Tata, Patanjali, Byjus and Unacademy field for title sponsorship.
If Vivo India doesn’t make its comeback as the title sponsors of IPL by next year, Dream11 platform will continue to take up the place. The fantasy sports platform will hold the space as title sponsors till 2022 provided Vivo India doesn’t return to claim the space.
Must Read: IPL 2020 Player List
Dream11 Bid on IPL Sponsorship
For 2020, the deal between BCCI and Dream11 is supposed to be till December, which will be considered non-valid. As per the winning bid schedule, Dream11’s schedule amounts as Rs 222 crore for the first year, Rs 240crore for second and Rs 240 crore for the third, making it an average of Rs234 crore per year.
Due to the controversies surrounding Chinese investments, BCCI stated, “Dream 11, essentially, is an Indian start-up with single-digit Chinese investment that is negligible and can be resolved internally.”
The COVID-19 lockdown has impacted the entire nation, and it seems that the world has lost its enthusiasm. To bring to light the situation, BCCI believes Dream11 taking up the step as title sponsors will be helpful for them as it will help to bring about engagement in the IPL that was dormant due to lockdown.
Apart from Dream11, Tata was running for the title sponsorship as well. Tata was planning to make an extensive bid, but that failed as Dream11 took up the position. Tata was planning to make a bid across three categories, but BCCI said that space can only be filled for a single-brand activity. However, Tata is likely to send an official statement for the bidding process.
“Only one category was available to block and that’s what has not worked in favor of Tatas.” BCCI was getting paid an extensive amount by Vivo. However, Dream11’s bid is just Rs 230 crore which is 51% of Vivo’s payment.
One of the sources talking of the big amount said, “It’s a decent amount considering the prevailing market conditions. The Board will bring two more official partners- Unacademy and Cred- to the table, which means Rs 80 crore more to the kitty.”
Status with Vivo IPL Title Sponsorship
BCCI and Dream11 are still in negotiations regarding their three year deal mostly for the two years 2021 and 2022. The company is willing to pay Rs 240 crore each year which will make it a deal of Rs 480 crore only if Vivo doesn’t make its comeback. But Vivo has a deal of Rs 440 crore.
“It was always clear that the highest bidder may not get the title rights (it was specified by the BCCI before accepting the expression of interest from bidders)” as told by a BCCI official.
He further added,
Having said that, Dream11 has bid the highest and are still favorites to get it, a few issues are still being ironed out before an official announcement comes.
The official talking about their decision to visit the deal said, “If it’s for only the year 2020, then Rs 222 crore works fine. But it was a conditional bid for three years. We still have our deal with Vivo on.”
Later on talking of the amount they get from Vivo he said, “We haven’t closed it as it’s a pause. If we are getting Rs 440 crore, why will we settle for Rs 240 crore?”
What the future holds, we are yet to see. But, it is confirmed that for 2020 IPL, Dream11 is the sponsor.