The Indian Premier League has had a variety of title sponsors since its inception in 2008. The tournament started out with real estate giants DLF and was called the DLF IPL until the end of the 2012 season.
The torch was then passed on to global beverage giants Pepsi when parent company Pepsico won the tender and the right to sponsor the IPL for a huge three year deal worth a total of approximately Rs. 250 Crores.
By the end of the 2015 season, another sponsor was being shortlisted. The contenders were mostly Chinese companies doing huge business in India. Finally, VIVO was finalised as the title sponsor. VIVO served as the main sponsor throughout 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.
In 2020, post escalating political tension between India and China post the Indo-China border fiasco, the BCCI forced IPL to change the sponsor for the time being due to VIVO’s Chinese ownership and roots.
The Indian fantasy gaming company Dream XI was given the right to sponsor the two parted 2020 season for a record breaking 222 Crores. The next year, 2021, the rights were handed back to VIVO as they still had a few years on their contract left. With the 2021 season ending with VIVO at the top due to legalities, an Indian powerhouse bought out the rights and is set to sponsor the IPL for 2022 and possibly ahead.
The TATA group, which recently took over the government run Air India, will now be taking over as title sponsors of the Indian Premier League. The group has signed a 2 year deal worth a whopping 670 Crores, leaving all the other sponsors behind by a huge margin.