Vodafone Idea will be among the top five sponsors for the Indian Premier League 2020 LIVE broadcast on Star Sports.
The mobile service provider, rechristened VI earlier this week, will be the co-presenting partner.
The deal, SportzFront has learnt, was closed on Tuesday, August 8. An announcement has not been made by the broadcaster or the company, but a media buyer has confirmed that the Star and the VI have signed on the dotted lines.
The deal is valued around ₹ 130 crores. The VI will be one of the five co-presenting partners for the IPL 2020 LIVE broadcast.
SportzFront had reported last month that Star Sports was aiming to have five co-presenting partners for the upcoming season of the league.
IPL title sponsor Dream11, e-learning app Byju’s, Amazon and PhonePe are the other four co-presenting partners. Star Sports has raised around ₹ 700 crores from the five co-presenting partners in one of its best years for the IPL business in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic threat.
The VI board last week had approved a plan for ₹ 25,000 crores fundraising. The company has been in the news for the past one week for all good reasons.
The Supreme Court on September 1 had allowed 10 years for staggered payment of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues.
The brand ever since is working aggressively on its resurgence. The VI has been reinventing itself with the city-specific services like VI Mumbai and VI Delhi.
Also read: Byju’s to be top spender on broadcast sponsorship
The company’s shares have reportedly gained over 2% in values as the bourses opened today (Thursday).
The IPL 2020 will be played in the UAE from September 19, when Mumbai Indians will open their title defence against last year’s finalists Chennai Super Kings. The final is slated for November 10.
Star India, besides the premier sports network channels, will be airing the league opener, weekend games and the matches beyond the knockout stage on premier Hindi and regional movie channels.
The broadcaster is targeting a record more than 550 million audiences for the IPL 2020.
Also read: IPL 2020: Star Sports expects over 550 million ‘LIVE’ TV audience