BCCI floats ‘Expression of Interest’ for IPL 2020 title sponsorship
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has floated an ‘Expression of Interest’ for the title sponsorship of IPL 2020. Following Vivo’s dramatic exit from this year’s edition, the IPL is currently without a title sponsor.
A BCCI release on Monday stated that interested parties need to show an annual turnover of at least INR 300 crores. The last date for buying the bid is August 14 and the winning bid will be announced four days later, on August 18. The rights will be valid from the same day until December 31 2020.
In 2017, Vivo had retained a five-year deal with the BCCI as title sponsors for the 2018-22 seasons with a winning bid of INR 2199 crore. It meant that the BCCI would receive about INR 440 crores per season as part of the deal. Despite Vivo’s sudden exit, IPL chairman Brijesh Patel said that “there is a lot of interest in acquiring the title rights” of the cash-rich T20 league.
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However, the BCCI has further clarified that the highest bidder will not automatically be the winning bid. The board will be taking several other factors into consideration.
“For the avoidance of doubt, it is clarified that BCCI shall not be obliged to award the Rights to the third party which indicates willingness to pay the highest fees in the course of discussions/ negotiations with BCCI after submitting an EOI,” the release stated.
“BCCI’s decision in this regard will also depend on a number of other relevant factors, including but not limited to, the manner in which the third party intends to exploit the Rights and the potential impact of the same on brand IPL as also the fan/ viewer experience, which will be examined/ evaluated by BCCI in the course of discussions/ negotiations with interested third parties who submit an EOI.”
As per BCCI’s revised revenue-sharing agreement, 50% of the winning-bid value will be split equally between all IPL franchises. With a new sponsor coming in, it remains to be seen how much amount each team will receive this season.
