Fantasy league platform Dream11 has got the sponsorship rights for this year's edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
"BCCI has awarded the title sponsorship of IPL 2020 to Dream11," sources close to the development confirmed to IANS. While the BCCI received Rs 440 crore per year from Vivo, Dream11 may pay BCCI approximately Rs 222 crore for the upcoming edition - which will be played in the UAE from September 19 to November 10, sources added.
Meanwhile, Aditya Verma, Secretary of Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB), said that the development was against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Atma Nirbhar Bharat' agenda.
"As a well-wisher of Indian sports, I wish and pray that IPL 13 is held successfully in the UAE," Verma told IANS.
"However, with Dream11 becoming the title sponsor of IPL, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream of 'Atma Nirbhar Bharat' will be a bit shattered as Dream11 is a Chinese company. It has also come to fore that the company has a huge investment in one of the IPL franchises," he added.
Dream 11 came up with the highest bid followed by Unacademy and Byju's. The challenge for the BCCI was to find a new sponsor with not much time left for the 13th edition. However, given the popularity of IPL, many brands were keen and showed interest in replacing Vivo as the title sponsor. Since the title sponsorship deal for the 2020 season will be for a period of fewer than 5 months, the BCCI had to seal a deal which was close to 50% of what it received from Vivo.
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The deal also comes as a big blow for all eight franchises as the Indian board shares 50% of the total amount it receives among all eight franchises. In IPL 2019, while all eight franchises received Rs 55 crore each, the franchises will have to settle for an amount of Rs 27.75 crore apiece for the upcoming season.
On August 10, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had invited third parties to express their interest in acquiring the title sponsorship rights for the 13th edition of the IPL.
The IPL 2020 title sponsorship was left vacant after the national cricket board had decided to suspend its partnership with Chinese mobile company Vivo as the ‘Boycott China' campaign gathered steam in the wake of the India-China standoff at the Galwan Valley in Ladakh in June in which 20 Indian soldiers had lost their lives.