The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has on July 1 announced fantasy sports major Dream11 as the lead sponsor for Team India for the period of three years, replacing edtech giant Byju's.
Following this, Dream11 will be seen on Team India jerseys starting from the Test series against the West Indies, which will be the team’s first assignment in the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 cycle, BCCI said in a statement.
The company has bagged these rights in a deal pegged at Rs 358 crore, which was much lesser than what Byju's paid, according to media reports.
Byju's was paying Rs 5.5 crore for every bilateral fixture and the value dropped to Rs 1.7 crore for an ICC game because of the positioning of the logo. Byju's had agreed to pay an overall $55 million, according to reports.
"From being BCCI’s official sponsor to now being the lead sponsor, the BCCI-Dream11 partnership has grown from strength to strength. It is a direct testament to the trust, value, potential and growth that Indian Cricket offers" said BCCI president Roger Binny in a statement.
"As we prepare to host the ICC World Cup later this year, enhancing fan experience is among our top priorities and I am confident that this partnership will help us elevate the fan engagement experience" he said.
It's worth noting that Dream11 has been the official partner for the cricket tournament Indian Premier league (IPL) since 2019 and was also the title sponsor in IPL 2020. It was also an official partner of the inaugural edition of Women's Premier League in 2023.
"As a long-standing partner of BCCI and Team India, Dream11 is thrilled to take our partnership to the next level. At Dream11, we share our love for cricket with a billion Indian cricket fans, and it is a matter of pride and our privilege to become the lead sponsor for the National team" said Dream Sports co-founder Harsh Jain. Dream Sports is the parent firm of Dream11.
BCCI had invited tenders for lead sponsorship last month, after Byju's sought to terminate its agreement with the Indian cricket board. The edtech giant had come on board as the lead sponsor in 2019, replacing Chinese smartphone maker Oppo.
However, it had sought to end this association in November 2022 as a measure to cut costs. The cricket body had then asked to continue the partnership until March 2023.
In its tender, BCCI had prohibited certain brand categories from participating in the process including real money gaming companies, although it had created an exception for fantasy sports gaming companies.
Other brands categories that were prohibited include athleisure and sportswear manufacturers, alcohol products, betting, cryptocurrency and tobacco brands.
Dream Sports is currently valued at $8 billion after raising a $840 million funding round in November 2021. Overall, it has raised around $1.6 billion from investors such as Falcon Edge, DST Global, TPG, Tiger Global, and Kalaari Capital. Dream11 claims to currently have over 180 million users.
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