Vivo, the Chinese Mobile company, has joined BCCI(the board of control for cricket in India) again as the title sponsor of the Indian Premier League(IPL) 2021. Last year, BCCI suspended the ongoing deal with Vivo.
Why Vivo Left IPL 2020 Title Sponsorship?
Before starting the players’ auction for the 2021 edition, IPL Chairman Brijesh Patel informed the press that Vivo is back with us. BCCI run IPL concluded the 2021 players auction in Chennai on Thursday.
Last year, Dream11, a fantasy sports platform, bagged the IPL 2020 title sponsorship. Due to the intense tussle between India and China forces on Line of Actual Control(LAC), people were boycotting Chinese products and services. There was a lot of pressure on BCCI to remove Vivo from IPL sponsorship. After looking at the emotions of Indians, the Vivo contract was suspended.
Indian Government also banned hundreds of Chinese apps citing security and privacy issues. Tiktok and Pubg mobile were the most affected platforms among all banned apps. Bytedance, the parent company of tiktok, is planning to exit the Indian business completely. They are in talks with Glance to sell their Indian assets.
Some experts claim that Vivo was not happy with moving the IPL out of India. IPL 2020 was played in UAE due to the covid pandemic. So, they left the IPL 2020 edition sponsorship.
Vivo has IPL association since 2015. In the year 2017, Vivo signed title sponsorship rights for 6 years. The company signed this deal with a hefty amount of $341 million. In 2020, both parties mutually agreed to suspend the deal.
IPL Title Sponsorship and IPL 2021 Auction Details
In 2020, BCCI started the fresh procedure to search for a title sponsor. Finally, Dream11 was selected as the title sponsor for the 2020 IPL edition. The company paid Rs 222 crore for the exclusive rights. Earlier, Vivo was paying approximately 440 crores per year for IPL title sponsorship. Other Indian firms like Byju’s also participated in that competition. Byju’s has a partnership with the Indian cricket body as the kit sponsor.
Title sponsorship is one of the key sources of IPL revenue generation. As per the agreement between IPL and the different franchises, 8 teams get 50% title sponsorship money. Title sponsorship money helps the franchises to become more profitable.
Though Dream11 is no more IPL title sponsor, it will continue as the official partner of IPL. The company has an association with IPL since 2018.
The current auction of IPL was completely different from other years. It has broken so many financial records. Some big names in the cricketing world went unsold, whereas others got the hefty amount. A total of 57 cricketers found the buyers in the 2021 auction. Among those sold cricketers, 22 were Indians.
Chris Morris, South African All-rounder, became the costliest player in the IPL history with Rs 16.25 crore. He will join the Rajasthan Royals team in 2021. Krishnappa Gowtham became the costliest Indian uncapped player. Chennai Super Kings bought him with a tour amount of Rs 9.25 crore.
Kylie Jamieson, with the 4th highest bid of IPL, was bought by Royal Challengers Banglore with Rs 15 crore. Kylie is an all-rounder from New Zealand. Jhye Richardson(Punjab Team) and Glenn Maxwell(Royal Challengers Banglore) were other main achievers in the IPL auction 2021. They got Rs 14 crore and Rs 14.25 crore respectively.
Shahrukh Khan, another uncapped player from Tamilnadu, was sold to the Punjab team with Rs 5.25 crore. Sachin Tendulkar son Arjun Tendulkar joined Mumbai Indians with Rs 20 lakhs base price.
