Education technology company Unacademy, which is already one of IPL’s sponsors, is eyeing the league’s title sponsorship rights now and is set to submit its bid to replace Chinese mobile phone company Vivo this season.
A BCCI official confirmed that Unacademy has picked up the bid papers but refrained from making any comments beyond that.
“I can confirm that Unacademy has shown interest and picked the bid papers. I have heard they will be submitting a bid and are pretty serious. So Patanjali if they bid, will have competition,” the senior official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
Vivo exit as title sponsor for the league because of anti-China sentiment in the country
The reported departure of Chinese mobile-maker as the title sponsor of the Indian Premier League (IPL) Season 13 is set to have a big financial impact, not just on the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) but also on the franchises. The BCCI had a lucrative deal with VIVO that saw them earn INR 440 crore every year but the Indo-China face-off across the LAC, as well as the negative publicity of the smartphone brand, reportedly saw VIVO withdraw its name as IPL sponsor this season.
The mobile-brand retained the IPL title sponsorship back in 2017 with a bid of INR 2199 crore for five seasons (2018-2022). The new financial terms saw the BCCI witness a whopping 454% jump as compared to the previous title sponsorship cycle (2012-17) was concerned. The BCCI would now get Rs 440 crore per year for title sponsorship which many reckoned was ‘40% above what should’ve been a realistic figure’.
The sum of 440 crores was decided to be divided between the BCCI and the central pool equally (50-50%). While the Indian board gets Rs 220 crore, the 8 franchises divide Rs 220 crore among themselves, with each getting about Rs 28 crore every year. With the departure of VIVO, all that money goes out of the picture.
The BCCI is now looking at a comparatively lesser value, which is 300-350 crores, for four months and 14 days.
The Unacademyalong with Paytm and Dream11 is already a part of IPL’s central sponsorship team from 2020-2023.
Difference between central and title sponsorship
The central sponsorship doesn’t include jersey rights. In IPL, the jersey logo can only be of title sponsor and apart from that the various team’s sponsors. If they become title sponsors, it will give them rights on various branding properties like space in the backdrop board in the post-presentation area, the backdrop in the dugout, and boundary rope. A lot of these branding opportunities apart from digital and media opportunities are part of the partnership.
Patanjali also considering to bid for IPL title sponsorship
Patanjali is trying to be the title sponsor because they want to give the brand a global marketing platform. Patanjali comes with the rub-off of being a staunch nationalistic brand replacing a Chinese one, it lacks the star power of a multinational or a heavily-invested unicorn brand.
“Patanjali as a title sponsor for IPL will do more for Patanjali than for IPL. While the caste hierarchy among brands could play out, Patanjali owning the title sponsorship would be contextual from a nationalist perspective, since there is an enormous anti-China sentiment prevailing in the country,”
The Jio Buzz
Speculations were also rife about Reliance Jio earning title sponsorship rights for the league this year. However, since Jio’s parent company Reliance is the owner of one of the teams in the league — Mumbai Indians — the common ‘Conflict of Interest’ clause will in all likelihood, not allow Jio to bid for the title rights.
Unacademy has 100 percent Indian investment
Other major Indian companies like Byju’s, Paytm, Dream11 and Swiggymay possibly run for the title sponsorship. However, Unacademy being a completely Indian funded brand will have an upper hand. Unacademy has 100 percent Indian investment. And four and half months is the perfect time to get associated with a brand like IPL and broaden their horizons in terms of brand outreach.