VIVO retains IPL's title sponsorship rights for next five years

What’s the story?

Chinese smartphone company VIVO has usurped its competitors OPPO to retain the title sponsorship of the Indian Premier League for the next five seasons. The deal, sealed for a period of five years, is a 554% increase from their previous contract, and will run from 2018 to 2022.

In case you didn’t know…

June 21 was the last date for the interested candidates to pick up the bidding documents and submit their applications, a process that started on May 31. The period for the sponsorship extends from August 2018 to July 2022, and will commence with the start of the IPL’s eleventh edition next year.

The bid document was available for Rs. 3 Lakhs. The media tender rights will be available from July 17.

The heart of the matter

VIVO bid Rs. 2,199 Crore, overtaking the next best bid by OPPO, who presented Rs. 1430 crores for the same.

The smartphone company, based in Guandong, had previously bagged the title sponsorship of the T20 tournament for a period of two years (2016 and 2017), from Pepsi. Prior to the soft-drink giant’s three-year stint, real estate bigwig DLF had held the rights for the first five seasons.

VIVO retains title sponsorship for IPL 2018-22. They bid Rs.2,199 Crores, 554% increase over the previous contract! pic.twitter.com/6D7RXooTvB

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) June 27, 2017

What’s next?

The VIVO name will brandish before the IPL for the next five seasons, starting from IPL 2018. The next season is expected to bring in a number of changes, including a possible open auction that will see a lot of chopping and changing of the teams.

Author’s Take

It is another feather in the cap for the Chinese tech company, that has, in just three years, expanded its market in India and the Southeast Asia region, sending a knockout punch to several established competitors. VIVO continues to establish its stronghold in the sports industry with sponsorship deals in the FIFA World Cups in 2018 and 2022 to follow.

Indian cricket, and IPL in particular, is a huge market, and brands like VIVO and OPPO have fully utilised it to reach a large audience. If the heavy influx of money in the bid is any indication, the IPL, even after running for ten years, is expected to be bigger and better next year.