Reports: Tata Sons leads title sponsorship race for IPL 2020

After Chinese smartphone manufacturing giant Vivo pulled out as the title sponsor of the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), multiple Indian business houses have expressed interest in taking their place this year.

The likes of Patanjali Ayurveda, Dream11, Tata Sons, Byju's and Unacademy are all in the race to earn the deal.

According to a report in Livemint, Tata Sons is the most likely candidate to win the race because the final choice will not only depend on the highest bid but also on the impact that the company will have on the brand value of the IPL.

Brand strategy specialist Harish Bijoor explained why the probability of Tata Sons becoming the title sponsor of IPL 2020 is relatively higher than others. He said:

“Tata Group is a legacy firm with a diverse set of interests in various categories. Considering that all companies are willing to pay upwards of ₹200 crore, the best among equals would be Tata Sons, as it is a non-controversial brand. It has heritage, a squeaky clean image and size to its advantage."

He added that Tata Sons easily trumps the likes of Patanjali Ayurveda in terms of legacy.

"Moreover, the 202-20 cricket league will gain a lot by Tata imagery. Between the two homegrown companies the legacy of Tata trumps Patanjali by a fairly large margin."

BCCI likely to suffer a huge loss even though many companies are showing an interest in sponsoring IPL 2020

While multiple Indian corporate houses have joined the race to become IPL 2020's title sponsors, a recent report claimed that the BCCI might still suffer a loss of INR 100-150 crores because of the last-minute change.

Vivo's deal as the title sponsors helped BCCI earn INR 440 crores per IPL season but that amount might fall to INR 200-250 crores in 2020.