Dream 11 wins title rights for IPL 2020

Dream 11, the online fantasy sports company, has won the title rights for IPL 2020 after bidding INR 222 crore ($29.7 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 run 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 INR 2199 crore ($341 million approx.). That worked out to INR 440 crore per year; Dream 11's bid indicates a fall of 49.5% in the BCCI's income from title rights for the current year, when compared to what it would have earned from the Vivo deal.

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.

Dream 11, based in Mumbai, has been associated with cricket since 2008, when it sponsored Otago Volts in the inaugural Champions League T20, played in India. It is also the official fantasy cricket platform partner with the ICC and will have that status with the IPL too. It has had a strong presence in cricket tournaments around the world of late. It made a debut as title sponsor late last year by associating with New Zealand Cricket for the 2019-20 Super Smash, that country's domestic T20 competition. Then in May, it sponsored the T10 Vincy Premier League in the Caribbean, which was among the first organised cricket tournaments since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Soon after the clashes between armed forces in June, 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 ($2.7 million approx.) per year from the title sponsorship.

The BCCI's bidding conditions specified that only companies with an annual turnover of INR 300 crore ($40 million approx.) or more 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."