BCCI ropes in Indian financial brand CRED as official IPL partners in ₹120 cr, 3-yr deal?

The 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is just three weeks away and the BCCI has not yet completed their IPL sponsors contracts as they have bagged another deal. As reported by InsideSport, after Unacademy, now it is Bengaluru-based Indian credit card payment company CRED that has signed a deal with the IPL, making it the official partners of the high-octane league.

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CRED signs up as IPL sponsors for the upcoming 2020 season

With TATA Motors and Unacademy already on board and the arrival of CRED as IPL sponsors, the BCCI has filled the miminum three sponsorship slots that were present during the IPL 2019. According to InsideSport estimates, the BCCI will earn ₹120 crore this season from the three partnership slots filled by Tata Motors, Unacademy and CRED. 

While speaking to InsideSport, a BCCI official said that the board is extremely pleased that they have filled two official partnership slots, which clearly shows the inherent strength of 'Brand IPL'. He added that the board's only deficit this year will be on account of title sponsorship, which was lost because of unfortunate and unprecedented circumstances.

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Recently, after the Future Group pulled out from the IPL and Dream11 was promoted as IPL title sponsors, the BCCI was left with two empty slots for associate sponsors pf the IPL 2020. With the arrival of Unacademy and CRED, BCCI can now breathe a huge sigh of relief. Unacademy has also reportedly signed a three-year deal with the BCCI as an IPL official partner and will spend in the range of ₹120-130 crore across the 3 years. The official announcement about the deal will be made soon. 

IPL 2020: BCCI central sponsorship revenues down by 40% as compared to IPL 2019

According to InsideSport, BCCI made ₹618 crore from the IPL 2019 central sponsorships. The IPL sponsors for 2019 included one title sponsor - VIVO (₹440 crore), three official partners - Tata Motors, FBB & Dream11 (₹120 crore on aggregate), one umpire sponsor - Paytm (₹28 crore) and one strategic timeout partner – CEAT (₹30 crore).

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However, the BCCI’s revenues from the central sponsorships in the IPL 2020 are already down by 30% as compared to the IPL 2019. The major reason behind the reduction in sponsorship value is because the IPL 2020 title sponsorship value went down by 50%. The total sponsorship revenue for IPL 2020 tentatively as of now stands at ₹400 crore. The IPL sponsors for 2020 include one title sponsor - Dream11 (₹222 crore), three official partners - Tata Motors, Unacademy, CRED (₹120 crore), one umpire sponsor - Paytm (₹28 crore), one strategic timeout partner – CEAT (₹30 crore).

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IMAGE COURTESY: MI PALTAN & CRED TWITTER