IMG-Reliance, the joint venture between the IMG agency and Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries, says it has raised record revenue on the back of sponsorship and licensing deals for the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The standout deal for the firm was securing online fantasy sports platform Dream11’s title sponsorship of the IPL 2020, after Chinese mobile phone brand Vivo was suspended from the title role because of political tensions between China and India.
It was reported in August that the IPL naming rights deal was worth Rs222 crore ($30m).
IMG-Reliance has exclusively represented Dream11 on its BCCI and IPL-related partnerships and has also assisted them in securing cricketers as part of their brand activation plans.
Mumbai-based Dream11 is the official fantasy cricket platform partner for the International Cricket Council, a designation it also holds with the IPL.
Head of sponsorship sales and talents, IMG-Reliance, Nikhil Bardia said: “Sports marketing is still in its early years in India and we see a clear opportunity to pioneer the sector…With a cluttered market, we have recognised that “one solution fits all’ approach does not work for all brands looking to ride the IPL wave.”
The joint venture also facilitated licensing deals for lifestyle brand boAt and for tyre manufacturer Balkrishna Industries with IPL teams, while the Indian mobile telco Reliance Jio, owned by Reliance, signed up for strategic spots on jerseys across all eight teams.
Formed in 2016, IMG-Reliance also exclusively represents six leading cricketers globally – Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Shreyas Iyer, Shikhar Dhawan and the Pandya brothers Krunal and Hardik.
John Stephenson
john@cricketinvestor.co.uk
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