IPL 2021 in India and lockdown impact? BCCI's revenues from sponsorships for 2021 revealed

After experiencing a considerable dip in revenues from sponsorship and from the lack of audiences at the tournament last year, the cash-league Indian Premier League has come back with a bang in 2021. In a stark difference from the realities of the country at the moment, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will be taking home big bucks from the ongoing IPL 2021 season. In the absence of earnings from ticket sales, read on to find out just how much Sourav Ganguly and co. have been able to make from the IPL sponsors alone this season.

Sourav Ganguly doubles BCCI profits from IPL sponsors in 2021

According to a report by InsideSport, the Indian cricket board is set to earn almost double of what they made from the IPL 2020 season, in 2021. Some panic about the shift in venues and a scarcity of information on whether fans would take to the tournament amidst a lockdown, caused many sponsors to pull out of their IPL deals in 2020. Title sponsors VIVO also withdrew after facing flak for being a Chinese-owned company, as political tensions soared between the two countries in 2020.

However, with BCCI president Sourav Ganguly delivering on his promise of record viewership figures last year, the IPL has once again become one of the most attractive events for advertisers in the country. In comparison to the INR 400 crore in sponsorship revenue that the BCCI made from the IPL last season, this year's revenue from the same source is set to come in at a whopping INR 708 crore - up nearly two times from last year. Here is a breakdown of the major sponsorship deals from both years.

Having bailed out the IPL 2020 at the last moment post the VIVO pullout, the fantasy gaming platform Dream11 bagged the title sponsorship rights to the IPL for a mere INR 222 crore in 2020. The three 'Official Partners' of the tournament, Tata Motors, Cred and Unacademy pitched in INR 120 crore in all to have their names on the board. Meanwhile, Umpire Sponsors, Paytm and longtime 'Strategic Timeout Partner' CEAT put in 28 and 30 crores respectively. 

Back as the title sponsors of the IPL this season, phone makers VIVO alone added INR 440 crore to the BCCI's kitty. Adding to this with 210 crores are the Official Partners of the IPL 2021 - up from three to five this season - Tata Motors, Cred, Dream11, Upstox and Unacademy. Umpire Sponsors, Paytm and 'Strategic Timeout Partner' CEAT also added the usual INR 28 and INR 30 crore to the draw this year. Besides the BCCI, each of the franchises and the official broadcasters of IPL, Star Sports, also stand to make huge amounts from the sponsors this season.

Image Credits: IPL website