IPL 2020: Fantasy Gaming Platform Dream11 Acquires Sponsorship Rights

Fantasy gaming platform Dream11 on Tuesday won the IPL 2020 title sponsorship rights with a bid of Rs 222 crore, replacing Chinese mobile phone company Vivo for a four-and-a-half month deal.

Dream11 has been one of the IPL sponsors for a couple of years now.

"Dream11 has won the rights with a bid of Rs 222 crore," IPL Chairman Brijesh Patel was quoted saying by a news agency.

BYJUs (201 crore) and Unacademy (170 crore) came second and third respectively in the bidding and Tata group didn't place a final bid.  

Vivo and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) suspended a Rs 440 crore per year deal for this season owing to the border stand-off between India and China.

The IPL will be held from September 19 to November 10 in the UAE this year.  "IPL 2020 will be played from September 19 and the final will be played on November 10, 2020. The 53-day tournament will witness 10-afternoon matches starting at 15:30 IST while the evening matches will start at 19:30 IST," said BCCI last week.

The cash-rich premiere league was slated to be held from March 29, but COVID-19 pandemic situation postponed it.

On August 10, the BCCI had sent out invitations to third parties to express their interest (EOI) in acquiring the title sponsorship rights for IPL 2020, saying the turnover of the interested third party must be over Rs 300 crore as per the last audited accounts.

The 13th edition of the T20 cricket tournament will be staged at three venues (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah) in the UAE.