The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday night released the tender for the title sponsorship rights of the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the 2024-28 cycle.
Tata held the IPL title sponsorship rights till the end of the 2023 season, taking over from Chinese phone makers Vivo in 2022 after political tensions.
After taking over as the IPL’s new title sponsor in 2022 for the next two seasons. Tata’s contract came to an end earlier this year after the conclusion of IPL 2023.
The detailed terms and conditions governing the tender process, including eligibility requirements, the process for submissions of bids, rights, and obligations, etc., are contained in the ‘Invitation to Tender’ (ITT) document which will be made available on the receipt of payment of a non-refundable fee of ₹5,00,000 plus, any applicable Goods and Services Tax. The ITT will be available for purchase till January 8, 2024.
Any interested party wishing to submit a bid is required to purchase the ITT. However, only those satisfying the eligibility criteria set out in the ITT and are subject to the other terms and conditions set out therein shall be eligible to bid.
Prohibited brand categories not eligible to bid include Alcohol Products; Betting; Cryptocurrency; Real Money Gaming (not including fantasy sports gaming), and Tobacco, among others.
Bid for title sponsor rights comes at a time when the Indian Premier League (IPL) has become a decacorn as the overall combined brand value has crossed the 10 billion dollars mark. As of now, IPL’s brand value stands at 10.7 billion dollars, as compared to 8.4 billion dollars in 2022, thus registering an increase by 28 per cent.
A report by brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance said the total brand value of the IPL has surged by 433 per cent since its launch in 2008. Furthermore, IPL’s significant growth is attributed to factors including a media rights deal amounting to 6.2 billion dollars (INR 48,390 crore), an increase in the central pool of IPL revenues, and the addition of two franchise teams, and the return to full stadium attendance in 2023 after the Covid-19 pandemic.