IPL 2020 ropes in Unacademy to replace Future Group as official partner in ₹40 cr deal

Indian conglomerate company Future Group recently pulled out of their deal with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) ahead of IPL 2020. The Future Group was one of the associate sponsors of the IPL 2020. After the Future Group opted out as IPL sponsors, the BCCI was looking for their replacement. Now, according to a recent development, the BCCI has finally found their replacement as Indian ed-tech company Unacademy has officially signed up with the board as the IPL central sponsor.

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IPL 2020: Uncademy comes on board as IPL sponsors after Future Group pulls out

Unacademy has signed a three-year deal with the BCCI as an IPL official partner and will spend in the range of ₹120-130 crore for the period. The official announcement about the deal will be made soon. A BCCI official confirmed the deal with InsideSport saying that the deal with Unacademy is completed for 3 years and the official announcement about the same will be made soon.

After the Future Group pulled out and Dream11 was promoted as IPL title sponsors, the BCCI was left with two empty slots for associate sponsors of IPL 2020. With Unacademy taking the first slot, the BCCI is currently in talks with the credit card payment company CRED for the second slot. 

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The Future Group pulled out of the cash-rich league as IPL sponsors because they are currently going through a restructuring phase. The Future Group take over is set to happen which is why they opted to terminate their association with the IPL. They have also faced huge losses due to the prevailing belligerent economic climate in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The retail conglomerate is now expected to face a takeover from the Reliance Group. The long-negotiated Reliance Future Group deal is likely to be completed by the end of this month. Interestingly, the Reliance Group is carved out of Reliance Industries, the latter of which is the owner of a popular IPL franchise Mumbai Indians.

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IPL 2020: IPL dates and venue confirmed

Scheduled to launch on September 19, the IPL 2020 season will run till November 10 across three UAE venues. The tournament was originally intended to launch on March 29 this year with a match between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. However, the pandemic enforced a delay by five-and-a-half-months.

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IMAGE COURTESY: MI PALTAN & UNACADEMY TWITTER