Dream11 has won the race for IPL 2020 title sponsorship rights, the tournament's chairman Brijesh Patel confirmed on Wednesday. The online fantasy gaming application won the title rights for Rs. 222 crores.
The IPL title rights were up for grabs after Vivo, which annually paid Rs 440 crore, dropped out as title sponsor this year due to the Sino-India border stand-off.
The BCCI floated a new tender for the IPL title sponsors as mandated by its constitution. The glitzy T20 league starts on September 19 in the UAE, forced out of India due to the rising COVID-19 cases.
It was learnt that Tata group didn't place a final bid while two education technology companies -- BYJUs (201 crore) and Unacademy (170 crore) -- came second and third respectively.
The BCCI had earlier announced that the companies with a turnover of over Rs 300 crores will be allowed to bid for the rights.
Dream11 is also currently the associate partner for the league and it remains unknown whether the company will remain at the position, or BCCI will be looking for a different company to fill the spot.
The 2020 edition of the tournament was initially scheduled to begin on March 29 but was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. With the season set to begin on September 19, the franchises will be flying to the United Arab Emirates from August 20, as per the guidelines issued by the BCCI.
The players and the staff members will then remain in the bio-secure bubble, which will be created to ensure the smooth flow of the tournament amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
