The Indian Premier League popularly known as the IPL is finally close to its recommencement this week as the defending champions Mumbai Indians take on Chennai Super Kings.
The 14th edition of the IPL was temporarily suspended by the BCCI because of COVID cases in the bio-bubble.
Phase 2 of IPL will resume in the UAE as the pandemic still looks pretty serious in India, with the chances of a possible third wave.
The first match will be played in the Dubai International Stadium where the two fierce IPL rivals will compete against each other. The match will be played on 19th September, Sunday at 7:30 pm IST.
Currently, the broadcasting rights for the IPL in India are owned by Star Sports Network. The broadcasting company won the rights for the most popular T20 cricket league in the world back in 2018 with a combined bid of Rs 16,347.5 crore. According to the agreement, the deal will expire in 2022. Fans in India can watch the league on Star Sports Network and also on Disney+Hotstar as they are currently the digital streaming partners.
Star and Disney India have signed numerous TV and digital sponsors for IPL 2021, supposedly around 90-100 brands will be promoting the competition on television and about 160-200 brands will be endorsing IPL on the digital platforms.
IPL is undoubtedly one of the most popular tournaments worldwide as it attracts a lot of viewership. This event is an eye-catcher for big companies as they look forward to sponsoring the event, which offers a massive return.
IPL 2021 has inked contracts with a lot of big sponsors this season which fans will get to see in the stadiums and during the advertisements.
VIVO, the popular Chinese phone company has returned as the title sponsor of the IPL after missing out on the previous season because of Dream 11.
Marking its fourth consecutive year of association with the BCCI, TATA signed a new deal with the T20 competition as its new SUV, the new TATA Safari became the official partner of IPL this year.
Back in 2020, Dream11 defeated VIVO and acquired the title rights for the IPL by offering around 222 crores. This year, VIVO is back as the title sponsor and Dream11 is the co-presenting sponsor of Disney+Hotstar.
The Indian Edu-tech company Unacademy signed up as an IPL partner back in 2020. The contract indicated that Unacademy is supposed to pay BCCI Rs 140 crores over three years.
CRED, which is an Indian fintech company came up with an innovative approach after gaining sponsorship rights for the IPL, CRED Power Play – the Most Rewarding Overs.
IPL has Upstox, one of India’s major and fastest-growing digital brokerage firms as an official partner for IPL.
Paytm remains the official Umpire’s partner for the IPL after paying around Rs 327 crore to the BCCI. CEAT remains the strategic timeout partner and is one of the oldest sponsors of the IPL since 2015.
IPL is one of the most viewed sporting events around the globe. An average of around 116 million unique viewers worldwide watched 14 matches in the first two weeks of the IPL 2020. The 13th edition of the competition was watched by 405 million viewers for a total of 400 billion viewing minutes.
Meanwhile, Sky Sports has acquired the IPL rights in the UK and ESPN+ in the US. Whereas YuppTV will telecast VIVO IPL 2021 close to 100 countries across Australia, Bhutan, Continental Europe, Central, and South America, Central Asia, Sri Lanka, South East Asia (except Singapore and Malaysia), Maldives, and Nepal.