New IPL 2020 title sponsor to be announced on August 18 after bidding process: BCCI

Ever since Chinese mobile manufacturer VIVO decided to pull out as Indian Premier League (IPL) title sponsors for the upcoming edition, several names have been floated as its potential replacements. As many as five brands have submitted their Expressions of Interest after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) invited EOI earlier this month.

VIVO's pull out due to border tensions between India and China 45 days ahead of IPL 2020 was seen as a setback to the cricket board, considering title sponsorship is a significant part of the tournament's commercial revenue.

While getting a replacement despite it being a short notice was never an issue for the BCCi, considering the tournament's reach, industry experts had predicted that BCCI might have to settle for a much lower amount than what VIVO was offering for the title sponsorship rights. Some had predicted that BCCI might end up with less than half of their deal with VIVO, considering the impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

VIVO was paying the BCCI Rs 440 crore annually for the 5-year deal which they bagged in 2017 by bidding a whopping Rs 2,199 crores in 2017.

However, it has emerged that the BCCI expects to make around Rs 300-400 crore from the IPL title sponsor. The news should come as a major relief for franchises who share a part of the IPL title sponsorship rights.

Companies will bid for IPL title rights on Tuesday, August 18 after which the new title rights holder will be announced. The BCCI had announced Companies with a turnover of over Rs 300 crores will be allowed to



bid for the rights which are available for the period from August 18, 2020 to December 31, 2020.

Multinational Group Tata Sons are the frontrunners at the moment while digital education technology platforms Byju's and Unacademy are serious contenders as well. Both Byju's and Unacademy are willing to pay top dollar, sources say.

Fantasy sports platform Dream 11 also submitted Expression of Interest. Yoga guru Baba Ramdev's Patanjali and Jio Communications were also in the fray to join the race for IPL title rights.

However, the BCCI made it clear that it may not award the title rights to the highest bidder but the decision will depend on a lot of factors, including the impact of the company on 'brand IPL'. The BCCI will also factor in the environment which led to VIVO suspending its contract for a year due to the border tensions.

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had said earlier this month that the VIVO pull-out is not a financial crisis and that BCCI is strong enough to handle 'blips'.

"I wouldn't call it as a financial crisis," Ganguly said while speaking during a webinar organised by Learnflix.

"It's just a little bit of a blip. And the only way you can do it is by being professionally strong over a period of time. You keep your other options open. It is like Plan A and Plan B. Sensible people do it. Sensible brands do it. Sensible corporates do it. BCCI, it's a very a strong foundation - the game, the players, the administrators in the past have made this game so strong that BCCI is able to handle all these blips."