MUMBAI: The IPL title sponsorship game has just got bigger. TOI has learnt that Tata Sons on Friday matched the Aditya Birla Group’s whopping Rs 500 crores bid per year (Rs 2500 cr in all) to be the title sponsors for the high-profile T20 league for the next five years- for the 2024-28 cycle.
TOI had exclusively reported on Jan 14 that the ABG Group had put in a Rs 500 crore bid per year (Rs 2500 cr in all) to be the title sponsors for the high-profile league for the next five years. Tata Sons paid Rs 670 crores for the last two IPL seasons-2022 and 2023. There will be 74 matches in IPL 2024, while the BCCI plans to increase the number of games in the league to 84 in 2025 and 2026 and 94 in 2027.
As per the rules made by the BCCI for the IPL title sponsorship bidding process, Tata Sons had the first right of refusal, but they had to match the highest bid -Rs 500 cr per year by the ABG Group -to retain the rights. The Tata Sons had to match the bid by 5pm on Friday, and they indeed did that before the deadline.
The BCCI had floated the tender on December 12, 2023.
