Less than 24 hours after Vivo’s exit as the prime sponsor for the tournament, contenders are vying for the title even though it may be a scaled-down bid.
If sources are to be believed, e-commerce giant Amazon India is a strong contender as it aims to use the IPL for promotions during the festival seasons of Dusshera and Diwali. Learning app Byju’s is another strong contender. One of the IPL’s current partners, fantasy sports platform Dream-11 is also in the race to be the IPL’s prime sponsor.
Though Vivo’s exit in this year is due to the negative sentiment against the Chinese, the BCCI has said that it could return as the IPL’s prime sponsor next year.
Industry sources say that a deal with a single price may be impossible but the BCCI will still be a winner if the title sponsor comes with a third of the original price and two additional sponsors make up for the price that was intended.
Besides these three, other contenders include Unacademy (Byju’s direct competitor) and MyCircle11 (a direct rival of Dream11).
As far as Byju’s is concerned, it can be a win-win for both the company and the BCCI as Byju’s is already the jersey sponsor of Team India. It can rework the prime sponsorship and still be a winner. Unacademy and My Circle 11 can also sponsor the IPL in various capacities even though their respective rivals earn the sponsorship crown. With a tournament like IPL, rival brands sponsoring the same tournament may not result in visibility conflicts.
Nevertheless, Amazon India is the leading contender. Though it has never sponsored any title or tournament yet, it could leverage its e-commerce goodwill to great use by sponsoring the IPL.