IPL 2021: Vivo to sponsor tournament as bids for transfer of rights not up to expectations

New Delhi: 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 up to 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 up to Vivo’s expectations this year, so they have decided to take it themselves and explore next year,” a BCCI source told PTI. [caption id=“attachment_8672371” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  Representational image. Image courtesy: Twitter @BCCI[/caption] 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. India lost 20 soldiers in the clash, while China also acknowledged unspecified casualties. The stand-off at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) caused outrage across India with several calls for boycott of Chinese companies and products. It is in this backdrop that Vivo and BCCI decided to suspend the deal for the 2020 season, which was held in the UAE due to COVID-19 pandemic. Half of the annual Vivo sponsorship money is distributed equally among eight franchises which comes to Rs 27.5 crore.