Chinese smartphone manufacturers Vivo will continue to be title sponsors of the Indian Premier League (IPL), said a top BCCI official, addressing speculations that the Indian cricket board may have to reconsider their deal following the violence in Ladakh’s Galwan valley that claimed the lives of 20 Indian soldiers.
“The contract was signed by our predecessors. It’s a five-year deal and will continue,” said treasurer Arun Dhumal. “As far as anti-China sentiment is concerned, I am all for ban on Chinese products. For me personally, and BCCI as an organisation, the country comes first. But we have to differentiate between awarding contracts to a Chinese company and securing sponsorships. The money is coming into India,” he argued. “Till the time a Chinese company is allowed to sell their product and make money from the Indian consumer, why should that money (sponsorship) be allowed to go out of India, is my limited point.”
In July 2017, Vivo bagged the IPL title rights for five years in a deal worth Rs 2,199 crore, a whopping 267% premium over the base price. Incidentally, the second highest bidder was Oppo, another Chinese smartphone brand that had bid Rs 1,430 crore.
Vivo’s contract, coupled with Star India’s five-year media rights deal worth Rs 16,347 crore, make IPL the most rewarding T20 competition in the world. BCCI hopes to reschedule this year’s suspended edition by late September if the T20 World Cup is postponed.
Source: HT