Fantasy sports platform Dream11 has emerged as the winner of the lead sponsor rights for the Indian cricket team. The company has secured the rights from July 2023 to March 2026 by bidding Rs 358 crore as the base price. As part of the deal, Dream11 will have its logo on the front of the jersey for the Indian men’s, women’s, and U-19 cricket teams.
Dream11 faced limited competition in the bidding process, as Disney Star was the only other company to pick up the tender document. The high base price set by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is believed to be the reason why other companies were not interested in participating.
Previously, education technology company Byju’s was the lead sponsor for the Indian cricket team. Byju’s bid Rs 5.07 crore per match for domestic matches featuring the team and Rs 1.56 crore per match for International Cricket Council (ICC) and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) tournaments.
BCCI had set a base price of Rs 3 crore per match for bilateral matches featuring the Indian team, and Rs 1 crore per match for ICC and ACC events.
The restriction on betting, cryptocurrency, tobacco, and real-money gaming companies from bidding for the lead sponsor rights further limited the pool of potential bidders. The tender for the national team lead sponsor rights was released on June 14, 2023, with a deadline for purchase on June 26, 2023.
According to sources in the advertising industry, advertisers continue to be cautious when it comes to making large investments. Additionally, the exit of new-age categories from the sponsorship field has also affected the response to BCCI’s bidding process.
In 2019, Byju’s took over as the jersey sponsor from Oppo. Oppo had secured the sponsorship rights for five years with a bid of Rs 1,079.29 crore, but later transferred the rights to Byju’s.
Experts suggest that Oppo and Byju’s bids were exceptions and did not accurately represent the current industry scenario. They believe that a price correction is inevitable.
In 2022, the Indian sports industry’s advertising revenue grew by 49% to Rs 14,209 crore. This figure is expected to reach Rs 16,000 crore in 2023, and potentially Rs 20,000 crore by 2025, according to GroupM India Sports Sponsorship Report 2023.
The deal with Dream11 is seen as a significant development in the sponsorship landscape for Indian cricket, and it will be interesting to see how this partnership unfolds over the next few years.
