In a significant development, fantasy gaming platform, Dream11 will be the title sponsor🏆 for this year’s edition of the IPL.
The company ✌️won these rights with a successful bid of Rs. 222 crore.
Notably, four companies, Tata Group, Dream11, Byju’s and Unacademy were also in this race after the withdrawal⤵️ of Chinese smartphone maker, Vivo.
IPL🏏 is due to start in the UAE from Sept. 19.
“Got a hefty bargain”
Dream 11’s winning bid is just about half of Rs. 440 crores, which Vivo was paying💰 each year to the BCCI to be the IPL’s title sponsor.
Both parties signed✍️ a 5-year deal in 2018 worth Rs. 2,200 crores.
However, Vivo’s contract was suspended🚫 in view of prevailing anti-China sentiment across India.
Even though BCCI will be getting such curtailed sponsorship fees, its officials have expressed satisfaction as they were wary😟 of getting a big replacement sponsor in the face of ongoing severe economic distress.
About Dream 11
Dream 11 was founded by Harsh Jain and Bhavit Sheth in 2009🗓️.
It lets its users pay a certain fee and create a virtual team of real-life players from cricket, hockey, football⚽ etc. and earn points based on the performances of these players in real matches.
The user scoring the maximum points gets to win real cash amounts🤑.
In 2017, Dream 11 faced a court case on charges that the nature of its business is similar to those of betting and gambling😈.
However, courts’ ruled in the company’s favour by stating that such games involve judgment🤔 and knowledge and are totally legal.
In 2019, Dream 11 became BCCI’s official partner🤝 for IPL fantasy games.
The move worked wonders for it as its number of users skyrocketed to over 7.5 crores.
The same year it became India’s 1st gaming unicorn😎.
Interestingly Dream 11 too, has a Chinese connection😯 as Chinese internet giant, Tencent Holdings is one of its main financial backers.