StaffIndian fantasy gaming platform Dream11 is set to become the new official jersey sponsor of the Indian cricket team. As per the deal, the two parties have agreed to sign a four-year deal, which is set to kick in with India’s upcoming tour of the West Indies.
Byju’s had an optional deal in place with the BCCI until November but decided to exit the contract in March. Team India has been without a jersey sponsor since and played the recent World Test Championship final at the London Oval without one.
In the previous deal with Byju’s, BCCI was earning around ? 5.5 crore for every bilateral fixture and the value dropped to ? 1.7 crore for an ICC game because of the positioning of the logo. The numbers of the deal with Dream11 are likely to be lesser than what the Indian cricket board was earning from Byju’s.
Industry experts tracking developments from close quarters have revealed that there was a lack of interest even after the lowered base price. BCCI’s June 14 release had prohibited certain brand categories from participating in the process and even though “Real Money Gaming” was in the list, an exception was made for “Fantasy Sports Gaming”.
OPPO and Vivo, the two Chinese phone manufacturing companies, were up against each other for the 2017-2022 cycle and OPPO outbid Vivo for the cycle. However, midway through OPPO’s five-year cycle, ed-tech startup Byju’s jumped in and signed a contract which ran until November 2023.
But market conditions prompted Byju’s to not continue with the deal as the company cut short its deal with the BCCI in March 2023, and since then the India team has been without a jersey sponsor. The wait will now end with Dream 11 coming on board. The fantasy gaming platform, which is growing at a rapid pace, was also the title sponsor of IPL 2020 in the past and continues to have many active cricketers on board as brand ambassadors of the platform.
