Governing Council Confirms Dream11 as IPL’s Title Sponsors
Image : Collected
|| Desk Report ||
The Governing Council of Indian Premier League (IPL) has already made it official that fantasy sports giants Dream11 has won the title sponsorship of IPL 2020, which will take place in UAE due to the global pandemic novel coronavirus outbreak.
On Wednesday, the BCCI has released a statement where it was said that Dream11’s association with sports has been increasing day by day and it has already associated with a total of 19 sports leagues which also included six IPL franchises as well.
“Dream11 upgrading their association from an official partner to title sponsor is a great testament to the brand IPL,” the T20 tournament’s chairman Brijesh Patel told.
He shared, “Dream11 as a fantasy sports brand will only grow the engagement of the IPL with its fans. As a digital brand it will give them leverage to create exciting online engagement for fans sitting at home and watching the matches.”
The decision came in place after the BCCI and Vivo had decided to part ways from their sponsor deal due to the China-India border stand-off. Meanwhile, the 2020 edition of IPL will take place in the UAE from September 19 and the final will be played on November 10. The deal with Vivo was of Rs 440 crore per year as well.
“The launch of IPL in 2008 gave birth to the idea of Dream11,” claimed Harsh Jain, CEO and Co-Founder of Dream Sports. “As avid sports fans, we wanted to offer fantasy cricket to IPL fans to help them further engage with the sport they love and showcase their sports knowledge and skill.”
“Being a proud homegrown Indian brand that is made in India, by Indians and exclusively for Indian sports fans, we would like to thank the BCCI for giving us an opportunity to become the title sponsor of IPL, which in our opinion is the world’s greatest sports property,” he added.
On the other hand, it is worth mentioning that Dream11 has earned its funding from Tencent, Chinese multinational conglomerate holding company as well. While questions raised on that, a BCCI official had given the answer as well.
“Dream11 stakeholders, including its founders plus all 400 plus employees, are Indian,” a BCCI source had told PTI. “Their Indian investors are Kalaari Capital and Multiples Equity. Even Dream11’s product is available exclusively for use only by Indians. Only a single-digit percentage minority stake is held by Tencent,” he concluded.
