Soft drink giants Pepsi today becamethe new title sponsors of the cash-rich Indian Premier Leagueafter it won the bid for title rights for five years by payinga whopping Rs 396 crores.
Pepsi pipped Aircel, which had offered Rs 316 crores, inthe bid for the title sponsorship of the Twenty20 tournament.
IPL Chairman Rajeev Shukla said that thetitle-sponsorship contract was for five-year period and willend in 2017.
Realty firm DLF ended its five-year-long association withthe IPL as the title sponsor in August and the BCCI floatedthe tenders last month. DLF paid Rs 200 crore for the fiveyear period of 2008-12.
"So far our records of selling various properties of IPLhas been very good. We have doubled, tripled or quadrupled theamount while selling some of the properties," Shukla toldreporters after the meeting of the IPL Governing Council.
Deepika Warrier, Executive Director Marketing of PepsicoBeverages, said she was very happy that the company hasreaffirmed its commitment to cricket.
"We have been associated with cricket for the last 20years. The IPL is a tremendous product. It is a brand whichrivals any other sporting brand across the world," she said.
The title sponsor rights include a number of branding andother marketing benefits to be received by the title sponsorat every IPL match during the season as specifically outlinedin the Invitation to Tender.
The BCCI had made it clear in its tender notice that thecompanies which intend to sell off the rights after winningthe bid are ineligible to apply in the first place.
Only corporate entities, whether in India or abroad,which are interested in placing a bid for themselves and/ortheir holding or subsidiary company(ies), for the purpose ofthe advertisement and promotion of their own brands withintheir primary product or services categories were eligible toparticipate in this tender process and to submit bids.