Dream 11, the online fantasy sports company, has won the title rights for IPL 2020 after bidding Rs 222 crore ($33.5 million approx.), IPL Governing Council chairman Brijesh Patel has confirmed to ESPNcricinfo. Dream 11 beat bids from Byju’s and Unacademy to win the rights, which are for only the upcoming season of the IPL, running from August 18 to December 31, 2020.
Vivo had bagged the title sponsorship for two years in 2015, and retained the rights in 2017 with a five-year contract (2017-22), paying Rs 2199 crore (USD 341 million approx). That worked out to Rs 440 crores per year.
The tournament needed a new sponsor for this season after Vivo – a Chinese company – pulled out following public outcry over their association with the IPL in the wake of border clashes between troops of India and China in June.
Soon after those clashes, the BCCI had said it would “review” the sponsorship deals concerning the IPL. “Taking note of the border skirmish that resulted in the martyrdom of our brave jawans, the IPL Governing Council has convened a meeting next week to review IPL’s various sponsorship deals,” BCCI said in a tweet posted on June 19.
The title sponsorship forms a key part in the IPL’s revenue sharing agreement with the franchises; 50% of the title sponsorship money goes to the eight franchises. It is understood each franchise earns over INR 20 crore (USD 2.7 million approx) per year from the title sponsorship.
The BCCI’s bidding conditions specified that only companies with an annual turnover of at least INR 300 crore (USD 40 million approx) would be eligible to bid for the IPL title sponsorship.
The winning bid, the BCCI had said, would not necessarily need to be the highest bidder and would depend on various other factors. “For the avoidance of doubt, it is clarified that BCCI shall not be obliged to award the rights to the third party which indicates willingness to pay the highest fees in the course of discussions/negotiations,” the BCCI said in a media release on August 10.
“BCCI’s decision in this regard will also depend on a number of other relevant factors. It includes, but is not limited to, the manner in which the third party intends to exploit the rights and the potential impact of the same on brand IPL as also the fan/viewer experience, which will be examined and evaluated by BCCI in the course of discussions/negotiations with interested third parties who submit an EOI.”