The Dhaka Tribune had reported on August 28 that the pre-eminent 50-over tournament of the season, the Dhaka Premier League (DPL) would not be heavily promoted this season.
Ahmed Sajjadul Alam, chairman of marketing, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) said as much at the time and hinted that the reason was the lack of a big sponsor for the tournament.
That situation has turned around now with renowned organisation Walton signing on to become the title sponsor for the season. Walton paid Tk3m to the BCB to buy the rights for the tournament which has been granted List A status this season.
The BCB and Walton signed the contracts for the agreement yesterday at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
“We have Walton as the sponsor of the premier league even this time and they paid handsome money for that,” informed the BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury.
Last season, Walton paid Tk2.5m for title sponsorship rights.
This year, the champion team will earn Tk1m and the runners-up Tk900,000 in the tournament that starts today in various venues across the country.
Director of Walton, Uday Hakim who was present at the signing ceremony said that the champions, runners-up, highest run scorer and the highest wicket-taker of the tournament will also get a Walton refrigerator each.
Chairman of the CCDM (Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis) and member of the BCB ad-hoc committee Jala Younus and managing director (Policy and HR) of the Walton High-tech industries SM Zahid were also present at the signing ceremony.
