IPL title rights: from INR 40 crore per year, to 444 crore, to 222 crore

DLF, an Indian real estate company, won the title rights for the first five seasons of the tournament for INR 200 crore (about USD 50 million at the time). DLF's winning bid was INR 75 crore more than the base price of INR 125 crore set by the BCCI.

The popularity of the IPL seemed to be in doubt following the termination of the Deccan Chargers in 2012 and when DLF opted not to renew its contract with the BCCI. Earlier that year it had also decided to end its term as title sponsor of the Champions League T20. All those fears were swept away, however, after global beverage giant Pepsico paid INR 396.8 crore (USD 71.77 million approx, then) to bag the IPL title rights for five years. That was nearly INR 100 crore more than the base price of INR 300 crore set by the BCCI.

Vivo, the Chinese handset manufacturer, bought title rights for the 2016 and 2017 IPL seasons after Pepsico decided to terminate its contract two years before it was meant to expire. Pepsico's decision was owing to the 2013 IPL corruption scandal which resulted in the Supreme Court banning Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for two seasons.

The IPL contract allowed Pepsico to transfer the title rights to another company. Although the BCCI never revealed what the deal was worth, it is understood Vivo continued to pay the same sum as Pepsico - around INR 80 crore per year for the 2016 and 2017 seasons.

With the Indian mobile economy growing exponentially, Vivo renewed its IPL title-rights deal, paying a record sum of INR 2199 crores (nearly USD 341 million then) for the 2018-22 period. The amount was a 454% jump from the Pepsico deal and assured the BCCI nearly INR 444 crore annually.

This June, the BCCI said it would "review" all its sponsorship contracts involving Chinese investments after the skirmishes across the India-China border. Vivo finally decided to suspend its IPL contract for the 2020 season. On Tuesday BCCI announced Dream11 would replace Vivo as IPL's title sponsors for 2020, with the contract lasting until December 31 this year. The deal was worth INR 222 crores, which is half of the annual payout assured from the original Vivo deal.