IPL 2021: Vivo looking to 'assign' IPL title sponsorship rights

Chinese smartphone manufacturing giant Vivo plans to 'assign' its IPL title sponsorship rights to another company. The Chinese company paused its contract with the BCCI last year, owing to economic issues and political tensions between India and China.

As per the five-year deal, Vivo does not have the option to exit. However, according to Outlook India's report, the smartphone company has made up its mind to assign the sponsorship rights, amounting to about ₹1,436 crore.

#Vivo To Withdraw As #IPL Title Sponsors? #BCCI Plans To Add Partners To Mitigate Any Revenue Loss@Vivo_India @IPL @BCCI @Dream11 @Unacademy #Cricket #IPL2021 https://t.co/Q3jHiUUIw1
— Outlook Magazine (@Outlookindia) January 29, 2021

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Vivo signed a five-year contract with the BCCI to become IPL's title sponsors from 2018 to 2023. While the partnership was smooth in the first two years, there were several problems in 2020. The BCCI also faced a backlash from Indian fans on social media for associating itself with a Chinese company.

Ultimately, the BCCI roped in fantasy sports platform Dream11 as IPL 2020's title sponsors. According to sources, Dream11 will be keen to continue their association with the IPL.

BCCI could add two more official partners in IPL 2021

IPL is the biggest T20 league in the world

The BCCI targets to increase its revenue in IPL 2021. Considering the Vivo title sponsorship's current situation, the board plans to add a couple of official partners for the 14th IPL season. The reported revenue BCCI wants to generate is ₹45 crore per partner per year.

Groww.in, Herbalife Nutrition, Mutualfundssahihai, and Oppo have shown interest in securing the official partners' rights. Meanwhile, Oppo had 'assigned' the Indian cricket team's sponsorship rights to BYJU'S. It will be interesting to see if the BCCI agrees to tie up with the Chinese smartphone company again.

The IPL 2021 Auction will happen on February 18. The parties involved will likely provide an official update about the title sponsorship picture soon.

🚨ALERT🚨: IPL 2021 Player Auction on 18th February🗓️Venue 📍: Chennai How excited are you for this year's Player Auction? 😎👍Set your reminder folks 🕰️ pic.twitter.com/xCnUDdGJCa
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) January 27, 2021

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Vinay has been working as a cricket journalist at Sportskeeda since 2018. A smart writer, he has a total previous work experience of 8 years working for the likes of Swag Cricket and Fambeat, and believes in thoroughly verifying each and every piece of information before writing any article. His meticulous methods have led him to amass a significant readership of close to 30 million at Sportskeeda, along with winning several awards such as Machine Writer, Top Earning Affiliate, and Perfectionist Writer in his Sportskeeda journey so far.

Vinay’s love for cricket blossomed when playing the sport during school days. Today, he is a staunch supporter of his home IPL side Gujarat Titans and is also the ambassador of franchise’s initiative Race with the Titans. Unsurprisingly, his all-time favorite cricketers also feature from his favorite IPL franchise - Rashid Khan, Matthew Wade, Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill.

When not writing, Vinay likes to play cricket and hang out with his friends. Being an industry veteran, his influence goes beyond the sport of cricket and has interviewed several Kabaddi stars such as Mohammad Nabibakhsh, Daniel Odhiambo, Vijay Malik, and Girish Ernak as well. He also is a fan of professional wrestling.

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Edited by Samya Majumdar

Vivo looking to 'assign' IPL title sponsorship rights - Sources

BCCI could add two more official partners in IPL 2021