New Delhi, Feb 19: Chinese mobile manufacturer Vivo will return to sponsor the IPL this season after its attempts to transfer the rights to another company failed to materialise as offers were not upto its “expectations”.
Vivo’s sponsorship deal with the BCCI, worth Rs 440 crore per year, was suspended last season due to the Sino-India border stand off in the aftermath of a violent clash in eastern Ladakh.
“…the offer made by Dream11 and Unacademy was not upto Vivo’s expectations this year, so they have decided to take it themselves and explore next year,” a BCCI source told PTI.
Dream11 had been the IPL title sponsors for the 2020 edition, winning the rights for Rs 222 crore, which was nearly half of what Vivo was paying annually for a five-year deal.
Vivo won the IPL title sponsorship rights for five years from 2018 to 2022 for a reported sum of Rs 2190 crore.
The anti-China sentiment in the country peaked after the violent face-off between the Indian and Chinese troops in Galwan Valley.
It is in this backdrop that Vivo and BCCI decided to suspend the deal for IPL 2020, which was held in the UAE due to COVID. (PTI)
