 "Vivo Mobiles is now the IPL title sponsor")
Beverage giant Pepsi has been replaced by Chinese mobile handset maker Vivo as title sponsor for the Indian Premier League (IPL), the annual 20-over cricket tournament, for the 2016 and 2017 seasons.
The sponsorship amount will be Rs 100 crore a year. Pepsi was paying Rs 80 crore a year.
Stated the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI): "Vivo Mobiles is to give the bank guarantee in the next 10 days."
Pepsi became title sponsor from 2013, after real estate company DLF's five-year contract with BCCI had concluded. It had signed on for five years. However, the tournament was hit by a series of negative news. In 2013, the IPL was mired in a match-fixing and betting controversy that resulted in then president N Srinivasan's axing from the BCCI administration and a two-year expulsion for two teams, Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings.
Last week, Pepsi opted out of the title sponsorship deal, saying its global policy was to associate only with sports properties that followed ethical practices. It had earlier called off a deal with golfer Tiger Woods after he was embroiled in a sex scandal.
"The amount for IPL sponsorship has gone up consistently over the past eight years, since the property has proven to be a success. While there have been controversies of various kinds, it has not impacted the ticket size of sponsorships. However, this (Pepsi's pulling out) should also be a warning to BCCI, since more such instances might bring down the brand value," says Indranil Das Blaah, partner, CAA KWAN, a sports and celebrity management company.
BCCI recently renewed Nike as a commercial partner for the IPL in the 2016 and 2017 seasons. It will be reviewing other sponsorship deals as well. Sources also reveal BCCI will be announcing two new teams for the coming two seasons, to have an eight-team tournament. At the BCCI Working Committee meeting on Sunday, it was decided that tenders will be floated to get these new teams on board to replace the suspended ones, CSK and Rajasthan Royals.
Experts say the licence for IPL needs to be renewed after the 2017 season in any case. "There might be a change of broadcaster, so a lot of things could change. The reach and impact equations will also change if that is the case and sponsorship fees will have to be revised. So, it makes sense to have deals for one or two years only, till the 2017 season. In any case, there were plans to have a 10-team IPL from the 11th year of the tournament, so the dynamics would have changed," says an executive close to the development.
