Unacademy, Dream11 eye IPL 2021 title rights; Vivo may exit sponsorship

Vivo likely to exit sponsorship; Byju's ruled out

The appointment of Bjyu’s as an International Cricket Council (ICC) partner for three years this week has left two players in the ring for the 2021 title sponsorship rights of the Indian Premier League (IPL) – edtech firm Unacademy and IPL 2020 title sponsor Dream11, sources in the know have told Business Standard.

The fantasy sports major was contracted for just one season as the title sponsor of the IPL after incumbent Vivo decided to “pause” its sponsorship deal last year. Vivo, it is reliably learnt, has made up its mind to exit as the IPL title sponsor in view of the prevailing anti-China sentiment, though the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) continues to be in dialogue with it.

Time is running out for the BCCI because the IPL player auctions for the 2021 edition are scheduled for February 18 in Chennai. The absence of a title sponsor by then would put the cricketing body in a tight spot as the auctions are closely followed by most sports aficionados and stakeholders.

Discussions between the BCCI and Vivo are centred around the transfer of the latter’s payout responsibilities to a new partner, something that PepsiCo India had done earlier in 2015 when it exited the IPL title sponsorship midway. Vivo had replaced PepsiCo as the IPL title sponsor for two years (2015-17) for an estimated Rs 200 crore, before bagging the title sponsorship rights in the next cycle (2018-22), paying 11 times (Rs 2,200 crore) the previous amount.

Dream11, meanwhile, is eyeing both the 2021 and 2022 IPL editions and had given bids of Rs 240 crore and Rs 260 crore, respectively, last year, persons in the know said, for the upcoming seasons while bidding for the 2020 title rights. It had bagged the 2020 title sponsorship for Rs 222 crore, which was nearly 50 per cent lower than Vivo’s annual payout of Rs 440 crore.

Unacademy, on the other hand, lost out to Dream11 last year in the title sponsorship race and remains a keen contender, top sources said. Vivo declined comment when contacted. Executives at Unacademy and Dream11 were not immediately available for comment. 

Bjyu’s, which was in the fray during the 2020 sponsorship race, had initially decided to put its hat in the ring for the 2021 and 2022 title rights, but has been ruled out now after it bagged the ICC partnership for Rs 130 crore. The partnership will give the edtech major a bigger canvass across all ICC events in the world, including digital, broadcast and in-venue rights.

IPL media rights holder Star Sports, in the interim, has already begun selling ad inventory for the T20 tournament that begins in April at ad rates which are higher by 15-20 per cent over the 2020 season, media industry sources said.

The sports broadcaster had remained resolute in 2020 despite Vivo’s pause, hiking ad rates by 25-30 per cent over the previous year to 12-13 lakh per 10 seconds, media buyers said. The broadcaster managed to get a record 110 advertisers on board for the 2020 edition, as the festive advertising timing and the presence of a high-impact sporting property had coalesced.

This year, sports in general, and cricket in particular, is riding a wave as the absence of live sporting action last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic has increased pent-up demand for sports content.

The IPL is expected to see more advertiser interest as the T20 tournament moves to its regular springtime schedule. “You have a number of marketers for whom the summer season is a key period. They will want to advertise on the IPL. In addition, it has become an important platform for both small and big brands,” Sanjog Gupta, head, sports, Star India, said.