Dream 11 has bagged the rights to sponsor this year’s IPL competition for a heavily discount price of Rs 222 crore. The leader in fantasy gaming sector, Dream 11 secured the rights for the title sponsorship at more than 50% discount. This means that Ramdev’s Patanjali was not even in contention for the title sponsorship.
“In the given circumstances, we are happy with the deal. These rights are only for four months and only for this edition of the IPL,” IPL Chairman Brijesh Patel was quoted as saying.
Unacademy had placed a bid of Rs 210 crore while Tata Sons made a bid of Rs 180 crore. Byju, which sponsors the Indian cricket team’s official jersey, had made a bid for Rs 125 crore. But there is no news of Patanjali entering the race despite the company’s spin doctors making headlines earlier.
The bid for new title sponsor had opened after Vivo expressed its inability to continue its association with the IPL as the country’s right-wing brigade raised objections to the BCCI’s relationship with the Chinese mobile company. Vivo had signed a five-year deal to sponsor the IPL for close to Rs 2200 crore. The BCCI, whose joint secretary is Home Minister Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah, had decided to retain the Chinese company as a sponsor, but Vivo left everyone stunned by making a quick exit. The news of Vivo dumping the IPL came as a huge shock for the BCCI bosses as finding a suitable replacement in the time of a global pandemic at such short notice seemed daunting.
This year’s IPL will be played from 19 September in the United Arab Emirates due to the spread of COVID-19 in India.