From BYJU’S to Dream11 and CRED – Indian startups that paid big bucks for IPL have to settle for half the traction

• After much criticism, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has finally been suspended after many players tested COVID-19 positive.
• As it was one of the biggest sporting events being held in India, startups in the country had pounced upon the opportunity to advertise.
• The VIVO IPL 2021, which started on April 9, was scheduled to go on till May 30.

After much criticism, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has finally been suspended after many players tested COVID-19 positive. And left midway are startups that had doled out large sums of money on sponsorship deals for the cricketing league.

As it was one of the biggest sporting events being held in India, startups in the country had pounced upon the opportunity to advertise. But now, with IPL being stopped mid-season, the companies will have to settle for half the traction.

Edtech platforms alone contributed to 15% of the total ad revenues for IPL, as per reports.

This also comes as a big blow for fantasy gaming startups like Dream11, Mobile Premier League (MPL), for whom IPL is one of the biggest business seasons. As per reports, when Dream11 had bagged the title sponsorship rights for the 2020 season, it had paid as much as ₹222 crore.

As per media reports, here’s how much IPL sponsorship costs:

Title sponsorship	₹440 crore
Official sponsors	₹210 crore
Umpire sponsors	₹28 crore
Strategic timeout sponsor	₹30 crore

As per a Financial Express report, here’s how much brands could have shelled out:

Ad space in the front of the team jersey	₹15-25 crore
Ad space on the back of the jersey	₹7-13 crore
Ad space in front of the helmet	₹2-14 crore
Ad space on shoulder of the team jersey	₹1.5-3 crore

Here’s a look at some of the startups associated with IPL 2021, which included cryptocurrency startups like Coinswitch Kuber:

BYJU’S

Dream11

Paytm

Unacademy

MPL

Upstox

CRED

PhonePe

Swiggy

Pharmeasy

Groww

Coinswitch Kuber

In fact, cryptocurrency startup Coinswitch Kuber said that it had seen over three times higher sign-ups during the IPL.

As per media reports, BCCI was set to earn ₹3,500 crore as advertising revenue from IPL 2021.

Here’s a look at how much this could hurt the brands

The VIVO IPL 2021, which started on April 9, was scheduled to go on till May 30. However, it has come under much scrutiny as India is in the midst of a gruesome second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the death toll rising each passing day. Amidst the grim situation, experts said that celebrating a cricketing tournament, which had also reported breaches of the bio-bubble, was wrong.


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IPL suspended as more players contract COVID-19 ⁠— BCCI bites the bullet mid-way through the season