The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) governing body has begun the formal search for a title sponsor of the glamorous Indian Premier League domestic men’s Twenty20 competition, from next year’s edition.
The BCCI yesterday (December 12) released an invitation to tender (ITT) covering title sponsorship rights to the 2024-28 cycle of the 10-team IPL, and has said it is looking for offers from “reputed entities.”
The five-season ITT will be available for brands to purchase until January 8 and costs the equivalent of just under $6,000. Interested parties should contact ipltitlesponsor2023@bcci.tv with confirmation of payment.
The highest bidder will not automatically secure the rights, as current title sponsor Tata, the Indian conglomerate, has a ‘right to match’ clause in their contract with the league, meaning they could still trump any new bidder. The BCCI is obligated to inform Tata of the value of the highest bid, and Tata then has five working days to inform the governing body whether it wishes to match that submission.
Tata has held these rights across the 2022 and 2023 editions of the IPL, with a deal between that heavyweight and the BCCI having been struck in January 2022 and set to expire before next year’s edition.
The title sponsor before Tata was the Chinese mobile brand Vivo.
There is also now a category of industry sectors the BCCI is not prepared to accept title sponsorship bids from - alcohol products, betting, cryptocurrency, real money gaming, tobacco, and “one likely to offend public morals such as, including but not limited to, pornography.”
These are the usual brand types that the BCCI prohibits from entering its tender processes.
Tata is also the first title sponsor of India’s Women’s Premier League (WPL) tournament, which launched earlier this year.
This meant that for one season, it had its name alongside the top-tier men's and women’s domestic cricket tournaments in the country.
Domestic media rights to the IPL, meanwhile, are held by a combination of Star India (Disney-owned) and Viacom18.
