BCCI stitches deal with Tatas for Indian Premier League title sponsorship

Conglomerate comes on board for next two editions as Vivo exits as title sponsor for second time

The Tata group is replacing mobile device maker Vivo as title sponsor of the Indian Premier League (IPL) after the Chinese firm pulled out of the contract for the second time in less than two years. The decision to rope in the Tata group was taken in a governing council meeting of the IPL on Tuesday.

“The Tata group will come on board as the title sponsor for the next two editions,” IPL Chairman Brijesh Patel told Reuters, confirming Vivo had transferred its title rights to the Indian conglomerate.

Vivo had initially signed a contract for the IPL title sponsorship for five years, 2018-2022, for a staggering Rs 2,200 crore. It, however, withdrew from the 2020 edition of the tournament amid anti-China sentiments in the country following a border clash between the Indian and Chinese army soldiers.

Fantasy gaming platform Dream11 had replaced Vivo as title sponsor of the 2020 edition, which was held in the United Arab Emirates because of the Covid crisis. Vivo returned last year, but sources said it had been looking for an exit route. Vivo was given one-year concession since it had lost a season of sponsorship in 2020.

According to sources, the Tatas would be paying the same amount that Vivo had committed -- around Rs 440 crore for 60 matches. However, it was not immediately clear whether some adjustments had been made as the number of matches would go up to 74 from this year because of the addition of two new teams – Lucknow and Ahmedabad.

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary Jay Shah welcomed the Tata group in the new role. “We are truly happy that India’s largest and most trusted business group has believed in the IPL growth story, and together with the Tata Group, we will look to take Indian cricket and the IPL forward to greater heights," he was quoted as saying in a media release.

The Tatas are sponsors of many key events across the world. These include the TCS New York City Marathon, Amsterdam Marathon, and London Marathon, while JLR is a presenting partner in the Invictus Games since its launch in London in 2014. They also own and run the Jamsehdpur FC football team in the Indian Super League. Tata Motors has a three-year association with the Wrestling Federation of India and supports tennis though Tata Open.

The BCCI, according to sources, made over Rs 708 crore through sponsorship in 2021, which, apart from Vivo’s fee, included Rs 220 crore from other official sponsors, Rs 28 crore from umpire sponsors, and Rs 30 crore from official strategic time-out sponsors. However, the big money came from media rights, which, at Rs 54.5 crore per match forked out by Star for 60 matches, came to Rs 3,972 crore.

The entire money is part of a central pool, of which half goes to the BCCI and the rest to the franchisees. With bids for media rights expected once again in the next few months, experts expect that the winning bid would almost be double of what Star had paid. That’s because they are expecting tough competition from new players like Reliance and Amazon, apart from the merged Sony-Zee group.  

With inputs from agencies