Tata Group, Reliance Jio, Patanjali, Dream11, Byjus and Unacademy have met Friday’s deadline for submitting Expression Of Interest (EOI).
Multinational conglomerate Tata Group has submitted its ‘Expression of Interest’ to become IPL title sponsor this year, joining education technology company Unacademy and fantasy sports platform Dream11 in a bid to replace Chinese mobile phone company Vivo for one season.
Confirming that the education technology company Unacademy and fantasy sports platform Dream11 have submitted the EOI, a senior BCCI source said, “Yes, Unacademy and Dream11 have submitted their EOIs for the title sponsorship bid of IPL.”
It also reported Patanjali and Jio Communications are in the fray, but no immediate confirmation was forthcoming from the BCCI on these two names. Jio has been associated with many franchises and is likely to not bid aggressively.
Byju’s, which is also the sponsor for the Indian cricket team and replaced Nokia as the team sponsor of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in March and KKR Co-owner Shah Rukh Khan, is the brand ambassador of the company. The online education startup has set aside ₹300 crores for the sponsorship deal.
Friday was the last date of submission of ‘EOI’ to the BCCI. The IPL will be held from September 19 to November 10 in the UAE this year and the winning bidder will hold the rights for four months and 13 days.
