Gaming Report: Tata Group Bags IPL 2022 Title Sponsorship, Fantasy Platform My11Circle Roped in as Team Sponsor For Lucknow Franchise & More

Gaming Report - Tata Group IPL and Zynga
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  • Namita Ghosh January 13, 2022
  • 4 Minutes Read

We are back with two important gaming updates.

The Tata Group has replaced Chinese phone maker Vivo as the title sponsor for the Indian Premier League (IPL) for two years, i.e., 2022 and 2023. Simultaneously, My11Circle has bagged the title sponsorship for the new Lucknow franchise for IPL 2022 season. Andy Flower has been appointed as the team’s head coach, and Gautam Gambhir is the team mentor.

In another significant development, mobile gaming giant Zynga will be changing ownership soon. Take-Two, the gaming publisher famous for top-rated titles like Grand Auto Theft (GTA) and NBA 2K, is acquiring the mobile game publisher Zynga for $12.70 Billion.

 

Tata Group Bags IPL 2022 Title Sponsorship, My11Circle Will Be Team Sponsor For Lucknow Franchise

The Tata Group has replaced Vivo as the official title sponsor of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The decision was taken in a meeting of the IPL Governing Council on Tuesday. The Council also issued the much-awaited Letter of Intent (LOI) to two new IPL teams – Lucknow and Ahmedabad, both of which now have franchise rights and will be part of IPL 2022.

The LOI to CVC Capital, the company that won the contract for the new Ahmedabad IPL franchise, was held-up due to the company’s alleged involvement in overseas gambling operations. Still, the company has been cleared by the Council.

The two new franchises now have 10 days to finalize the list of players to contract, while the much-delayed auction is scheduled to be held in Bengaluru on February 12 and 13.

Simultaneously, fantasy sports platform My11Circle has bagged the title sponsorship for the Lucknow franchise.

 

Tata Picked Over Vivo as IPL Title Sponsor

Vivo had paid ₹2,200 Crores for the IPL sponsorship rights from 2018 – 2022. However, due to ongoing tensions between India and China, the Chinese mobile phone maker fell out of the deal in 2020, with Dream11 replacing it last year. This is the second year Vivo has been sidestepped. The league will henceforth be called Tata IPL.

Sharing more details on Tata group bagging the IPL title sponsorship, IPL Chairman Brijesh Patel said, “Vivo has exited, and the Tatas will be title sponsors. The GC has approved the CVC acquisition of the Ahmedabad team, and we will issue the LoI today (January 11).”

Brijesh Patel
Brijesh Patel

 

Secretary of the Board of Cricket Control of India (BCCI), Jay Shah, said – “This is indeed a momentous occasion for the BCCI IPL as the Tata Group is the epitome of global Indian enterprise with an over 100-year-old legacy and operations in more than 100 countries across six continents.”

Shah added – “BCCI, like the Tata group, is keen to promote the spirit of cricket across international borders, and the growing popularity of IPL as a global sporting franchise bears testimony to BCCI’s efforts.”

 

My11Circle Bags Sponsorship for Lucknow Franchise

Last week, the new Lucknow franchise signed up fantasy sports portal My11Circle as its title sponsor. The Sanjiv Goenka-owned RPSG Group has signed a three-year contract with My11Circle for three IPL seasons and will see the My11Circle logo displayed on the team jersey.

RPSG Sports CEO Raghu Iyer stated, “We are delighted to have My11Circle as our Principal Team Sponsor. We thank them for the faith they have shown in our new franchise and are confident that this will be a winning partnership.”

The franchise has announced Andy Flower as the head coach, with Gautam Gambhir to join soon as the team mentor.

 

GTA Publisher Take-Two to Buy Zynga For $12.70 Billion

In what comes as the biggest reported acquisition in the video game industry, Take-Two Interactive, the publisher that has produced top-notch games like Grand Theft Auto (GTA) and NBA 2K, has confirmed entering a deal to buy out Zynga for $12.70 Billion.

The acquisition will be made in a cash-and-stock deal. Zynga shareholders will get $3.50 in cash and $6.36 in shares of Take-Take common stock for each outstanding share of Zynga at closing. The deal is likely to be closed in the first quarter of the fiscal year 2023, pending the approval of Take-Two and Zynga shareholders.

An official statement from Take-Two stated the deal would unify highly complementary businesses, and the company has anticipated $100 Million in annual cost savings. It would also facilitate Take-take to bring more of GTA, BioShock, XCOM, Civilization, and other franchises onto the social and mobile platforms. At the same time, the company will benefit from the existing Zynga portfolio that comprises a wide range of popular titles.

Speaking about the acquisition during an investor call, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said, “We believe we have the best collection of console and PC intellectual property in the interactive entertainment business, and it’s basically nearly entirely un-exploited from mobile and free-to-play around the world.”

Zelnick continued, “Zynga’s best-in-class studios can help us develop that property. Their best-in-class free-to-play mobile publishing operations can bring that to consumers and delight those consumers and create recurrent consumer spending along the way.

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