BackPatanjali to bid for IPL 2020 title sponsorship
BCCI is likely to announce the tournament's new title sponsor by 18 August with a seven-day window for interested companies to submit the bid
PremiumYoga guru Baba Ramdev promoted Patanjali Ayurveda Pvt Ltd will be bidding for the title sponsorship for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020. The decision came after the anti-China backlash which forced the Board of Cricket Council of India (BCCI) and Chinese smartphone maker Vivo to mutually annul the sponsorship association for 13th edition of the T20 tournament being held in UAE from 16 September.
BCCI is likely to announce the tournament's new title sponsor by 18 August with a seven-day window for interested companies to submit the bid. The board is expected to offer 20% to 30% discount on the current sponsorship price pegged at ₹440 crore owing to challenging market conditions.
“IPL is in our consideration zone, we are looking at it, and see whether it can take the message of Atmanirbhar Bharat and be a brand carrier for this globally. Our strategy and stand has been to promote the swadeshi, health-friendly games which can fit into everyone’s pockets be accessed at the grassroots levels," SK Tijarawala, the company’s spokesperson told Mint. He, however, did not comment on the price the fast moving consumer goods company is willing to pay for the title sponsorship.
That Patanjali has expressed interest in IPL was first reported by The Economic Times newspaper on Monday.
Patanjali is no stranger to sports sponsorship but this would be the first time the company is planning to bid for a cricket property. As per its nationalist and homegrown brand ethos, it has been associated with non-cricket indigenous sports.
Patanjali had bagged co-presenting rights for the Kabaddi World Cup in 2016 and has also sponsored season two of Pro Wrestling League.
The brand strategy is to target young people in urban areas —a segment where Patanjali has not really seen the kind of success it has seen in other segments.
Tijarawala also added that cricket is a game that requires money and infrastructure. "Now we are considering cricket, it is the right platform and the bridge between the globe and India. In principle, we are considering it and we have to take the opinion of our varied stakeholders," he said.
In 2017, Patanjali told Mint that it will be associated only with Indian sports and events that build on Indian culture. “We’ll never sponsor cricket. That’s not an Indian sport," the company spokesperson had then said.
Apart from Patanjali, some of the other firms which have been expected to bid for the title sponsorship include e-learning platform Byju's, Coca-Cola India, Paytm and Amazon, among others.
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