BCCI had replaced IPL’s title sponsor Vivo, a Chinese firm, with Dream11.
The decision was taken in the heat of Galwan Valley clash between Indian Army and China’s PLA in eastern Ladakh.
Dream11 had won the rights with an agreement to pay BCCI Rs 222 crore every year. The Chinese company Vivo was paying Rs 439.80 crore every year to the premier cricket body for the period of five years. Vivo and BCCI decided to amicably part ways keeping the anti-China sentiment in mind. This has been the common theme of the stories around the topic in media.
If this theme is to be believed, then why is it that the BCCI gave the rights to Dream11? A Chinese firm Tencent is heavily invested in this firm. It has invested Rs 720 crore in 2018.
Dream 11 has raised $120-$160 million in five rounds so far. The latest round of fundraising that happened in March this year gave exits to Kalaari Captial, Multiples and Think Investments. Therefore, BCCI’s claim that even Indian investments falls flat.
The second and third highest bidders were Byju’s and Paytm, which have a significant Chinese investment.
Granting title rights to Dream11 busts the myth that public sentiment led to the change. If BCCI wanted to play patriotic card, it could have invited only Indian companies like Tata Group, Patanjali, Reliance Jio, for bidding. Many experts, in fact, were confident an Indian company would bag the bid.
Traders’ body Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) wrote to the BCCI raising objections over Dream11 winning the bid.
“We are deeply pained to note that now Dream11 has been chosen as a sponsor of IPL 2020 which has Chinese company Tencent Global as one of the major stakeholders,” it said.
“We are of the considered opinion that awarding sponsorship to Dream11 is nothing but a bypass route to neglect the sentiments and feelings prevailing among the people of India against China for its regular attempts to invade the interests of India,” CAIT added.
It also pointed out that apart from IPL title ownership, Dream11 has invested in many IPL teams such as Chennai Super Kings, Kings XI Punjab, Delhi Capitals, Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians.
Besides Dream11, India’s Swiggy, which has investments from Tencent Holdings, is an associate sponsor for the world’s richest T20 league.Vivo is also the title sponsor of Pro Kabaddi League, an annual tournament broadcast on the Star Sports network.
Dream11 is as one of its official partners. It is also the official partner for the Hero Indian Super League and the official fantasy game for T20 Mumbai League and the Redmi Karnataka Premier League.
In 2017, Chinese phone-maker Oppo bid Rs 1,079 Cr to win the team sponsorship rights from BCCI.
According to the five-year deal it had signed with BCCI, Oppo had reserved the right to be called the official team sponsor and the right to display a commercial logo on the clothing of the men’s cricket team, the under-19 side, the men’s A-Team and the women’s squad.
However, last year, Oppo signed a tripartite agreement with the BCCI and Indian edtech platform BYJU’S. The Chinese company transferred its sponsorship rights to BYJU’S, which became the team’s official sponsor. But is BYJU’S free of Chinese investments? Not quite.