Tata Group to replace Vivo as IPL title sponsor

TATA Group will replace Chinese mobile manufacturer Vivo as the title sponsor of the Indian Premier League (IPL) from this year, the event's governing council decided on Tuesday (10).

"Tata group is coming in as IPL title sponsor," the cricket league’s chairman Brijesh Patel said.

The money associated with the deal is yet to be known and a Tata spokesperson didn't divulge any details.

Vivo had a deal of Rs 22 billion (£220 million) for title sponsorship rights from 2018-2022 but after the 2020 Galwan Valley military face-off between the Indian and Chinese Army soldiers, the brand took a break for a year with Dream11 replacing it in the IPL.

However, Vivo was back as IPL title sponsor in 2021 even as speculation raged that the company was looking to transfer the rights to a suitable bidder and the country’s cricket governing body BCCI approved the move.

"This was supposed to happen sooner or later as Vivo's presence was bringing bad publicity for both the league as well as the company. With negative sentiment around Chinese products, the company had to pull out of the sponsorship with one season left for the deal to be completed," said a BCCI source.

The BCCI will not lose any money as it is still assured of an annual sponsorship sum of Rs 4.4 bn (£44m) which will now be paid by the new sponsor.

The economics of sponsorship is that the BCCI keeps 50 per cent of the money and distributes the rest among the IPL franchises which are now 10 with the addition of two new teams this year.

The deal is only for this year as of now as the BCCI will have to invite fresh tenders for the next cycle starting 2023.

(PTI)