The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Dream11 resolved a hitch over the latter’s top bid for the title sponsorship of the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), paving the way for the fantasy gaming company to replace Vivo.
Dream11 agreed to be the sponsor for 2020 and dropped a demand that it should be automatically given the rights for the next two years if Vivo opts out in 2021and 2022 as well.
IPL governing council chairman Brijesh Patel had told ET of Dream11’s winning Rs 222 crore bid on Tuesday evening but the board didn’t make an official announcement, nor was the company informed about the outcome. It later emerged that there was an impasse over Dream11 seeking to extend the contract for 2021 and 2022, if Vivo didn’t come back. The Chinese firm had acquired the IPL title rights for five years till 2022 for Rs 2,190 crore, or about Rs 440 crore per season.
Vivo and the BCCI agreed to part ways for this year at least following anti-Chinese sentiment provoked by border hostilities. That prompted the hunt for a title sponsor for the event that starts September 19 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). “We welcome Dream11 on board as title sponsor for the 2020 edition of the IPL,” Patel said in a BCCI release on Wednesday. “Dream11 upgrading their association from an official partner to title sponsor is a great testament to the brand IPL.”
Dream11 CEO and cofounder Harsh Jain underscored the company’s identity as an Indian firm. Chinese company Tencent Holdings is an investor in Dream11. “Being a proud homegrown Indian brand that is made in India, by Indians and exclusively for Indian sports fans, we would like to thank the BCCI for giving us an opportunity to become the title sponsor of IPL, which in our opinion is the world’s greatest sports property,” he said in the BCCI release.
Dream11 had wanted the title sponsorship to be extendable for 2021 and 2022, at Rs 240 crore each, in case Vivo didn’t reclaim the role, said people with knowledge of the matter. This was despite the BCCI having invited expressions of interest only for IPL 2020, with the tenure of the title sponsorship to end by December 31.
“The BCCI did not want to give away the next two years’ rights at Rs 240 crore and there was confusion that Dream11 doesn’t want rights only for one year. The issue has been resolved now and the contract is being drawn up,” said a BCCI official aware of the matter, adding that the matter had been settled after several hours of talks.
The bid of the gaming company had exceeded those of edtech firms Byju’s at Rs 201 crore and Unacademy at Rs 171 crore. Dream11, already an IPL official partner, made clear it will vacate that slot if selected for the title sponsorship. Patel told ET that Unacademy will sign on as an official IPL partner.
The board is looking to get one more official IPL partner and is said to be in talks with credit card payment app Cred toward this end. The BCCI official cited above said that the board was loath to let go of the Dream11 bid, already about half the Vivo figure, as the next one was much lower. This would have also meant that the third bidder wouldn’t have been able to become official partner, since both are in the same business.
The board expects the Chinese phone company to come back next year or that there will be enough time to realise a better price through fresh bids, the person said. “If Byju’s would have come on board, Unacademy couldn’t join,” he said. “It would have resulted in a loss of over Rs 61 crore, including the difference in the two bids. The board hopes that Vivo will come back next year, or we will have more time to organise a proper auction.”
ET first reported that Vivo had initially been looking for a discount in the sponsorship amount due to the Covid-19 disruption but exited as public opinion built up against China on social media after the IPL governing council announced on August 2 that all the sponsors had been retained. On August 10, the BCCI invited expressions of interest (EoI) for the title sponsorship rights, while reaching out to top companies, including Tata, Reliance Industries, Adani, Amazon and others, seeking their interest even at 50% of Vivo’s fee.
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