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IPL 2021: Major Sponsors this Season

Sports Advertising is the oldest tool in the book. Sponsorship of a team, stadium, and merchandise has been the oldest form through which sports teams get money to have a sustained business model. In return, sponsors receive recognition and consideration from the sports fans. The Indian Premier League is a household name in T20 cricket now. With IPL 2021 around the corner, it is the right time to look at major deals that happened off the pitch.

So, when seen through the lens of a business expansion opportunity, IPL is the biggest sporting commodity in India. The tournament offers companies to aggressively market and advertise themselves. It brings commercialization to the dressing room.

Brands keep adopting strategies to make the most of their expenditure. Nowadays more brands prefer to opt for Multi-Team Sponsorship Deals as compared to being the main sponsor. The reason behind this trend is simple, the expenditure of being the main sponsor lies between 25-50crores, but a multi-team deal with land companies with more teams at lesser expenditure.  For example, take BoAt, which is currently the audio sponsor for six IPL teams with an expenditure of Rs 30-40 crores. This strategy gives brands more visibility. Another benefit of multi-team deals is that it gives companies the opportunity to get more visibility across the tournament instead of specific games.

VIVO boost for IPL and Star Sports benefit from more number of brands

VIVO is back as the Title Sponsor for IPL 2021 after opting out from last season. The telecommunication brand has reportedly spent Rs 1133.71 crores on advertising. For IPL, VIVO spends Rs 440 Cr annually in Sponsorship.  It has also been said that The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is looking to earn about INR 4,000 crore from the upcoming season. Last year’s sponsor Dream 11 was shelling out Rs 220 cr, exactly half of what VIVO is paying this season.

Along with the return of VIVO, Star Sports Network is gearing up for big bucks this season. The broadcaster has managed to line up multiple brands for this season. It has already signed17 brands as of now. Some of the key brands in this list are  Dream11, Byjus, Phone Pe, Just Dial, Bingo, Kamla Pasand, Frooti, Asian Paints, Thumbs Up, Vodafone-Idea, Mondelez, and Amazon Prime. It’s been reported that all co-sponsor deals are in the price range of Rs 110-125 crores, while associate deals lie in the lower range of Rs 65-70 crores.

On the digital front too Disney+Hotstar has so far signed 10 sponsors for IPL 2021, including Dream11 as the co-presenting sponsor and Upstox and Vimal Elaichi as co-powered by sponsors.

BCCI has also announced its Official Partners.

Unacademy, a digital education platform was signed as the official sponsor last season in a three-year contract for a deal worth Rs 120-130 crores. Cred, a newly founded Bengaluru-based Credit Card Payment app, also signed Rs 120 crores deal with the BCCI last year.

This season will also mark four years of partnership between TATA and IPL. Like every year, this season’s Most Destructive player will also be given a Tata Car. Upstox, a doctoral stockbroking firm backed by Ratan Tata has signed a deal worth Rs 90 crores deal with the board.

The Board has also roped in Paytm and CEAT Tyres as the Umpire and Time out Partners, respectively. The digital payment platform had struck a Rs 28 crores deal for 5 seasons, while CEAT has been the time-out partner since 2015 and renewed its five-year deal for Rs 28 crores/season in 2018.

IPL franchises set to witness an increase in sponsorship revenue

IPL Franchises are also all set to witness an increase in their sponsorship revenue by at least 10-15% this season. All eight franchises reportedly clocked Rs 450-500 crore last year as sponsorship revenue.

It is to be noted that the BCCI must share 50% of the revenue with the franchises as part of the central pool. In turn, the teams contribute 20% of their total revenue back to BCCI at the end of the competition.

This season brands have spent an estimated Rs 15-25 crores for the front of the jerseys, and Rs 7-13 crores on the back of the kit.  Spaces in front of the Helmets have been sold for Rs 2-4 crores.

Following the Multi-Team Branding Strategy this season, Franchises have opted for Principal Sponsors. Only three Teams namely Royal Challengers Bangalore (Title Sponsor- Muthoot Fincorp), Sunrisers Hyderabad (Title Sponsor- JK Lakshmi Cement), and Punjab Kings (Title Sponsor- Ebixcash) have title sponsors.

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