- BCCI has signed the Unacademy Educational Platform as one of central sponsors of IPL for a three-year term in an INR 120-130 crore fee estimated.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) season 2020 Board of Control for Cricket in India ( BCCI) continues to be busy in getting new sponsorship deals. Everything has changed as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic that this year saw the season delayed from March to September. VIVO ‘s departure as the season’s title sponsor left a large void in the hands of the board that was partially filled with the arrival of the Dream11 fantasy sports website.
Although there are still a few other sponsorship slots that the BCCI is hoping to fill in the coming days, the board has also signed the Unacademy Educational Platform as one of central sponsors of IPL for a three-year term in an INR 120-130 crore fee estimated. The Board is expected to make an official announcement for the same soon.
“The Unacademy contract is over for 3 years. We’re going to make the official announcement soon, “said InsideSport a BCCI official.
The contract came in after the Future Group had opted out when Dream11 was the main sponsor of the league’s 13th edition. The BCCI is also reported to be in talks with credit card payment company, CRED, as one of the main partners, according to a study in Inside Sport. So far as the similarities with IPL 2019 go, this version of the IPL seems to raise half of the revenue for the BCCI that it did last year.
IPL 2020 Sponsorships:
- Title Sponsor – Dream11 – INR 222 Cr
- Official Partners – Tata Motors, Unacademy – INR 80 Cr
- Umpire Partner – INR 28Cr
- Strategic Timeout partner – INR 30 Cr
While this year, last season, BCCI seems to have accumulated Rs 360 crore sponsorships, the board allegedly made Rs 618 crore from sponsorships under IPL. The BCCI is likely to sign one more central sponsor before the new season begins, but this year’s revenues are bound to take a big hit.
The board had previously revised its bid for the next few years of the IPL in talks with Dream11 after being unimpressed with their offer. However, the fantasy sports company opted not to do so and was, for this year only, brought in as the title sponsor.
If VIVO will not proceed as the title sponsor for the seasons IPL 2021 and IPL 2022, then the BCCI will have to reinvite new offers. With the COVID-19 pandemic in mind, the board can not anticipate bids close to VIVO’s if the situation doesn’t improve by then.
