BCCI feared to lose over 50% in bargain to find Vivo’s replacement

The Board of Control for Cricket in India is feared to lose over 50-55% in the bargain to find a brand to replace Vivo as the Indian Premier League 2020 sponsor.

Vivo has paused the ₹ 440-crore per annum deal for the IPL Season 13. As the BCCI is set to initiate the tender process for the title sponsorship rights of the IPL 2020, market experts are foreseeing major loss for the board.

Business daily Economic Times has reported that the expression of interest for the rights will be floated today (Monday). The interested parties will have to submit their documents by August 14 and the process will be completed by August 18.

IPL Chief Executive Hemang Amin, as reported earlier, has been in talks with numerous brands. But the COVID-19 pandemic has become a major dissuading factor for the brands – not just for economic reasons.

Since the matches will be staged in the UAE in a “bio-secured bubble”, the sponsor will just get the right to prefix its brand name with the league logo. There are no options for any kind of activation. Brands are also reportedly not very keen on a one-year deal.

Potential sponsors also find that Vivo’s ₹2,199 crore offer for five years was far beyond the right market value. The experts were taken by surprise when Vivo had offered more than 300% to retain the rights, which it had held at ₹ 100 crores per annum for the 2016 and 2017 editions.  The base price was ₹ 120 crore per annum and the next best bid from Oppo was ₹ 1,432 crore.

While a majority of top brands are discouraged by the “just one-season” deal, a ray of hope has emerged for the BCCI with “swadeshi brand” Patanjali also reported to be throwing the hat in the ring.

Also read: Ramdev’s Patanjali considering to bid for IPL title sponsorship

The BCCI has reportedly approached brands like Reliance, Amazon, Tata Group and Jio.

ET reports that Tata Group had shown some interest after the initial reluctance, but it is not keen on a one-year deal. The other brands are looking for a hard bargain to seal the deal between ₹ 150 crores and ₹ 170 crores. The Board is expecting around ₹ 220 crores to ₹ 250 crores.

Reliance Jio reportedly feels that even an investment of ₹ 150 crores will be a bit too much for ROIs.

The BCCI is compelled to pause the contract Vivo this year under mounting pressure due to the rising anti-China sentiment.

Admin Sportz Front

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