The top brass of the Board of Control for Cricket in India are confident of "springing a surprise" for the title sponsorship of this year's Indian Premier League when it comes to matching the Rs 440-crore-per year deal with Vivo.
The BCCI had floated a tender to invite expression of interest (EOI) from advertisers on Monday, saying the rights were available from August 18 to December 31, 2020.
The notice also clarified that "BCCI shall not be obliged to award the Rights to the third party which indicates willingness to pay the highest fees in the course of discussions/ negotiations with BCCI after submitting an EOI".
The Tata and Adani groups are said to be in talks with the BCCI, though neither has mailed their EOI yet, the deadline for which expires at 5pm on Friday.
BCCI and Vivo decided to "pause" their association this season because of a backlash following the political storm surrounding the recent border stand-off with China.
"Hopefully there will be a surprise in store for a lot of people. The BCCI is on track to beat market estimates. That it still has the ability to control the economics of world cricket will be proven yet again," a source, who has been tracking the developments closely, told The Telegraph.
"The matter is being personally looked into by BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah. Despite the effects of the raging pandemic, BCCI has received positive responses because the brand value of IPL can't be discounted with...
"As far as sponsorship money goes there will be very little loss… Don't forget any diminishing numbers could hamper the value of the entire IPL ecosystem and also the value of franchises.," said the source.
BCCI though has managed to rope in two official partners - Unacademy, an education technology platform, and Cred, a credit card payment platform. Both have been roped in for a three-year period (2020-2023).
Unacademy is also set to enter the race for the title sponsorship and could give the big guns a close fight.
The e-learning platform, set up in 2015, has investors such as Facebook and General Atlantic, Sequoia India, Nexus Venture Partners, Steadview Capital and Blume Ventures.
The source maintained that Reliance Industries' Jio Network could still join the race and there would be no conflict of interest because of their association with Mumbai Indians.
"Reliance is flush with investments in these Covid times. You can't discount them. They have several companies and can always get one to sponsor the IPL. Also they are committed to giving sport a boost... Just imagine the mileage you can get over a four-month period," the source said.
E-commerce giant Amazon's name has been doing the rounds but an industry expert said they had spent a substantial amount on television slots and may not be keen on a four-month deal. Ditto for Coca-Cola, which is "evaluating the opportunities", according to a spokesperson, but a source said they may not be willing to pay the kind of money the BCCI is expecting.
