How Dream11 beat BYJU'S & Unacademy to win IPL title sponsorship

Dream11 won the title sponsorship for the thirteenth edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020, outbidding other contenders with a sponsorship amount of reportedly Rs 222 crore. According to industry sources, Dream11 was always a strong contender for the title, even before the bidding process began. Among others, BYJU’S reportedly bid Rs 201 crore, Unacademy – Rs 170 crore and Tatas, who wanted certain conditions to be met, did not eventually bid. Dream11 walked away with the highest bid for the title sponsorship for the year 2020.

 “Though Dream11 can already brag about being the first Indian gaming company becoming a Unicorn, Brand IPL is a beast in itself and getting the top spot there will only add value. Bagging the title sponsorship paves Dream11’s way into the big league, gives the brand a huge fillip in terms of visibility as well as bolsters its position as a serious player who wants to scale up and take centre stage,” says Shashwat Das, Founder Director, Almond Branding

After the suspension of Vivo as title sponsor for 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL) due to the backlash against Chinese companies amid the Sino-Indian border dispute, the Chinese connection with IPL seems to stay as Tencent Holdings, a Chinese investment company, is one of the major investors for Dream11.

BCCI, which desperately needed a title sponsor for the tournament, had issued an expression of interest (EOI) last week for this. Vivo had acquired IPL title sponsorship in 2018 for around Rs 2,199 crore in a five year deal, paying around Rs 440 crore annually to BCCI. This year, being an exception, the sponsorship was given away at half the price.

“This year’s IPL is also different in a way that it has offered only a one-year deal. But even that is worthwhile for Dream11 if you do the math. The format is such that it gives the advertisers and sponsors a large window of around 60 days to grip audience’s attention and it’s packaged so well in terms of experience that the viewership has only grown over the years. The brand name and the value proposition of the title sponsor will get hammered repeatedly in the next three months and that will give immense visibility and reach,” says Das of Almond Branding.

The sponsorship amount worked in a ratio of 50-50 between BCCI and the franchises. With this amount reducing to half, each franchise will have to bear a loss, coupled with the loss of gate money. The question is will the franchises get a compensation from BCCI or would BCCI let go of the 20% top-line revenue share they receive from franchises? It is also a big question whether other sponsors will renegotiate their terms with BCCI this year, as the title sponsor has come at a 50% cost. However, a hike of around 8-10% in ad rate by star for both tells a different story.