MUMBAI: After shooting from the lip in the midst of national outrage over the death of Indian soldiers following aggression by the Chinese military, the mandarins at the BCCI are now at sixes and sevens on how to extricate the Indian cricket board from its own pronouncements.
On June 19, IPL took to social media and announced that a meeting will be held sometime this week to discuss a stance on their title sponsorship deal with Chinese smartphone brand VIVO.
“Taking note of the border skirmish that resulted in the martyrdom of our brave jawans, the IPL Governing Council has convened a meeting next week to review IPL’s various sponsorship deals” was the posting on IPL’s official Twitter handle.
According to The Telegraph, IPL chairman Brijesh Patel had no forewarning on the tweet, with speculation pointing to the BCCI having acted under pressure from “above” (read the ruling BJP).
Reports now indicate that the IPL governing council members have no idea why the tweet was even sent out when the Indian government is yet to impose a ban on Chinese products in the country.
Meanwhile, a former BCCI official has claimed that the move will put a dent on IPL’s brand value at a time when the Indian economy is already heading towards a recession due to the global pandemic.
In 2017, Vivo acquired IPL title rights for Rs 21.99 billion for five years, which comes to Rs 4.4 billion annually.
Santosh N, managing partner of Duff and Phelps India Pvt Ltd, which has studied brand IPL for six years, told New Indian Express: “I’m not sure how soon BCCI will be looking to get somebody on board, in the scenario of Vivo going out. I’m sure BCCI will be able to find someone, as cricket is the most sought after (sport). But whether it will be a premium to Vivo’s bid amount or at a discount is what we have to see. There will be a challenge in terms of value, but it won’t be difficult to get a replacement.”
Apart from Vivo, IPL has seen Chinese smartphone brands Oppo, Xiaomi, Realme and OnePlus taking up prime ad slots. They spend nearly Rs 5 billion annually. Duff & Phelps in 2019 valued the IPL ecosystem at Rs 475 billion.
Sandeep Goyal, chairman of Mumbai-based marketing and communication firm Mogae Media, told the daily that terminating Vivo’s contract won’t be easy just because there is sentiment in favour of boycotting Chinese products.
“In the current economic climate, to look for someone paying Rs 440 crore is a challenge. The substitute could be another mobile brand. But last year, Vivo’s sister brand Oppo walked out of the sponsorship of Indian cricket team. That’s how BYJU’s came in and they are owned by Tencent, another Chinese brand. The most visible advertisers are all Chinese. IPL has lost sponsors in the past like Pepsi because of fixing, but this situation is different. You don’t know if IPL will happen, and it won’t be as interactive without fans. So a replacement may not be willing to pay the same amount. It will be theoretically impossible,” he said.
