Dream11 replaces Vivo as IPL sponsor - for half the amount

Fantasy gaming company Dream11 will be the main sponsor of the Indian Premier League for its 2020 edition, paying the league 50% less for the privilege than its previous backer, Chinese smartphone maker Vivo, league chairman Brijesh Patel said on Tuesday.

Vivo had secured the IPL sponsorship rights for 2018-2022 for nearly 22 billion rupees ($293 million) but pulled out of this year's tournament amid a backlash against Chinese firms in India following a clash on the two countries' border in June in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed.

Patel told Reuters that Dream11 had submitted a winning bid of 2.22 billion rupees ($29 million), compared with the 4.4 billion Vivo had been paying annually to the Indian cricket board, which owns the popular Twenty20 tournament.

"There were three bids in all," Patel, the chairman of the IPL governing council, said by phone.

The franchise-based T20 league will be played in the United Arab Emirates from Sept. 19 after India decided it could not host it this year due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Finding a new lead sponsor for the IPL in just a few weeks had been seen as a test of cricket's status for brands in India.

The much lower amount agreed on reflects the impact of the pandemic on both the economy and sport, which has been massively disrupted all around the world.