IPL 2020 title sponsorship: Tata Sons enters race, eyes first major association with BCCI

In a surprising development, Tata Sons has jumped into the IPL title sponsorship race, sources told Moneycontrol.

Moneycontrol had earlier reported that the title sponsor of this year's IPL  could be a company with no previous major association with the game as a lead sponsor.

The sudden emergence of Tata Sons can be seen as an indication that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) wants to associate with a company whose roots and credentials cannot be questioned, and Tata Sons fits the bill.

A Tata Sons spokesperson told Moneycontrol it has submitted an Expression of Interest.

Sources also told Moneycontrol that no particular arm of the salt-to-steel conglomerate will be sponsoring the tournament and the tournament may sport the traditional logo of the Tata group.

The other frontrunners — Unacademy, Patanjali, Byju's and  Dream11 — have also submitted EOIs.

After Vivo's exit as title sponsor of the popular T20 tournament last week and the current economic climate affecting the fortunes of India Inc, it was being speculated that the final bid amount would be in the range of Rs 250- 300 crore.

However, sources told Moneycontrol the BCCI may finally have to settle for a loss of not more than 15 percent for this year's IPL title sponsorship amount as the prospect of associating with one of the world's most popular sporting events even for a short period of time turned out to be an enticing prospect for many companies.

The Tata Group has a strong and old association with the Indian sports ecosystem. Many former cricketers, including the likes of Sourav Ganguly, Ravi Shastri and Dilip Vengsarkar, were employed by Tata Steel.

Tata Steel also owns a team in the Indian Super League and runs India's oldest football academy in Jamshedpur. Tata Group companies have been actively backing sporting events for many years. Sports activities have always been given great importance in the Group and it is evident in the way Tata Steel has built various sports facilities in Jamshedpur.

According to Lloyd Mathias, angel investor and business strategist, it is a very positive development and appropriate for a big entity like Tata Sons.

"They can leverage the association with IPL across a wide array of companies. TCS has been very active with marathons, their association with football too dates back to the time of Russi Mody and the Tata Football Academy. With all their consumer products coming under Tata Consumer Products now, I think it makes sense to invest in this association with IPL and they will be able to leverage it across brands," he told Moneycontrol.

Mathias said the development will also lift the spirits of India Inc, which has been reeling under the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

"This could be a good opportunity for getting things to move upwards. After this, more categories will slowly enter. If Tata Sons comes on board as title sponsor, BCCI should be delighted," he said, adding that considering the barrage of criticism that the BCCI suffered in the past few weeks for its ties with Chinese companies, the association with one of India's top corporate house will surely boost its image.

 The BCCI will announce the name of the title sponsor for this season's IPL on August 18.

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