After a long delay and drop in base price, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has roped in Dream11 as the new sponsor for India Cricket Team. The fantasy gaming platform will replace Byju’s who ended the deal prematurely in March. The BCCI confirmed the same in a release on Saturday.
Dream11 will be seen on Team India jerseys starting from the Test series against the West Indies, the team’s first assignment in the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 cycle.
There were doubts about whether BCCI could close a deal before the West Indies tour. However, as per a News18 report, the Indian board has put pen to paper. Earlier, BCCI had to succumb to industry pressure, lowering the base price of the sponsorship deal. The Indian board reduced the base price for India Cricket Team sponsor to Rs 350 crore.
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Byju’s paid around Rs 287 Cr for the last tenure in 2018. The ed-tech company later extended the deal to 2023, paying around $55 million or Rs 450 Cr. Under the deal, Byju’s was paying Rs 5.5 crore for bilateral matches and Rs 1.7 Cr for an ICC game. The for the drop in price is that in ICC tournaments, teams are not allowed to sport the sponsor’s logo on the front of the jersey.
India Cricket Team Sponsors:
- Wills: 1990s
- ITC: 1990s
- Sahara Group: 2002-2013
- Star India: 2014-2017
- OPPO: 2017-2022
- Byju’s: 2022-23
With no takers this time, BCCI decreased the base price per match to Rs 3 crore. For International Cricket Council (ICC) and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) tournaments, the base price is Rs 1 crore per match.
The Indian fantasy unicorn Dream11 has been associated with Indian cricket since IPL 2018. First, Dream11 came in as a sponsor for IPL and then became the title sponsor for IPL 2020 when Oppo pulled out. However, the value of the current deal between Dream11 and BCCI is still unknown.
Earlier, BCCI roped in Adidas as the official kit sponsor ahead of WTC Final. It was a major move from the board after parting ways with sports goods giants Nike following World Cup 2019.
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