IPL 2022 Auction: A look at all the major sponsors of the IPL so far

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday confirmed that the Tata Group will take over from Vivo as the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) title sponsor for the 2022 season.

Chinese mobile manufacturer Vivo had a deal of INR 2199 crore for title sponsorship rights from 2018 to 2022. However, after the 2020 Galwan Valley military clash between the Indian and Chinese Army soldiers, Vivo pulled out of IPL 2020. They were back as sponsors for the 2021 edition. According to reports, Vivo was looking to transfer the rights to a suitable bidder and the BCCI approved the move.

The Tata group wants to be title sponsors for five years but there needs to be a bidding process in place. A source informed PTI that the BCCI is mulling on having a Right to Match option for the Tatas in case they are interested in the next cycle.

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IPL 2022 Auction: Complete list of main sponsors

With the Tata Group taking over the main sponsorship of the IPL for the 2022 season, we look back at all the major sponsors of the Indian T20 league since the start of the tournament.

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2008-2012: DLF

DLF (Delhi Land & Finance), a real estate developer from India, was the first title sponsor of the IPL. They secured the rights for the first five editions - from 2008 to 2012 - with a bid of INR 200 crore (US$27 million).

The three other bidders apart from DLF were Percept D'Mark, Hero Honda along with WSG and 21st Century. The latter, though, withdrew their bid.

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2013-2015: PepsiCo

Gautam Gambhir with the Pepsi IPL trophy

Renowned food, snack, and beverage corporation PepsiCo purchased the title sponsorship rights of IPL for INR 397 crore (US$53 million) for the next five seasons - 2013 to 2017. However, the company terminated the contract in October 2015.

According to media reports, PepsiCo pulled out after controversy hit the league as Chennai and Rajasthan franchises were suspended for two years. However, BCCI sources claimed that the company ended its deal due to dipping foreign interests.

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2016-2019: Vivo

Following PepsiCo’s exit, BCCI transferred the title sponsorship rights for the remaining two IPL seasons of the contract to Vivo for a sum of INR 200 crore (US$27 million). In June 2017, Vivo retained the title sponsorship rights for the next five seasons (2018–2022) with a whopping bid of INR 2,199 crore (US$290 million).

The next highest bid was INR 1,432 crore by Oppo, who held the Team India sponsorship rights back then. The base price for bidding was INR 600 crore for five years (INR 120 crore per year).

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2020: Dream 11

The Dream 11 IPL trophy. Pic: IPLT20.COM

Fantasy cricket app Dream11 won the title sponsorship rights for IPL 2020 for INR 222 crore (US$29.5 million). The need for a new title sponsor emerged after Vivo decided to ‘take a break’ from the T20 league amid rising tensions between India and China in the wake of a military stand-off.

Calls for a boycott of Chinese goods were being made and Vivo decided to steer clear of controversy by pulling out of IPL 2020. According to media reports, The Tata Group, e-learning app Unacademy, Reliance Jio and Patanjali were some of the other companies who had shown interest in title sponsorship for IPL 2020.

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2021: Vivo

Ruturaj Gaikwad with the Vivo IPL trophy

Putting an end to speculation, Vivo returned as the IPL's title sponsor for the 2021 season, which was played in two halves owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. The earlier deal of INR 439 crore per year was back in place.

The Chinese smartphone maker was supposed to be the title sponsor until 2023. However, they again exited the deal, making way for the Tata Group. IPL chairman Brijesh Patel confirmed to PTI on Tuesday:

“Yes, Tata group is coming in as IPL title sponsor."

The Indian T20 league is now likely to be called the ‘Tata Indian Premier League’.

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How the sponsorship money is divided

The BCCI keeps 50 per cent of the money earned from selling title sponsorship rights. The rest of the money is distributed among the IPL franchises. There will be a total of 10 teams this year, with two new sides all set to make their debuts during the 2022 season.