Soft drinks giant Pepsi is the new title sponsor of the cash-rich Indian Premier League. It won the bid for title rights for five years by paying a whopping Rs 396 crore.
Pepsi pipped Airtel, which offered Rs 316 crore, in the bid for the title sponsorship of the Twenty20 tournament.
IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla said the title sponsorship contract is for five years and will end in 2017.
Realty firm DLF ended its five-year association with the IPL as title sponsor in August and the BCCI floated tenders for the same last month.
DLF paid Rs 200 crore for the period of 2008-12.
"So far our records of selling various properties of IPL have been very good. We have doubled, tripled or quadrupled the amount while selling some of the properties," Shukla told reporters after the meeting of the IPL Governing Council.
Deepika Warrier, Executive Director, Marketing, Pepsico Beverages, said she is happy about the company reaffirming its commitment to cricket.
"We have been associated with cricket for the last 20 years. The IPL is a tremendous product. It is a brand which rivals any other sporting brand across the world," she added.
The title sponsor rights include a number of branding and other marketing benefits to be received by the title sponsor at every IPL match during the season as specifically outlined in the Invitation to Tender.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India had made it clear in its tender notice that the companies that intend to sell off the rights after winning the bid are ineligible to apply in the first place.
Only corporate entities, whether in India or abroad, that are interested in placing a bid for themselves and/or their holding or subsidiary company(ies), for the purpose of the advertisement and promotion of their own brands within their primary product or services categories were eligible to participate in the tender process and submit bids.
