IPL 2020: BCCI President Sourav Ganguly on Suspension of IPL Title Sponsorship Deal With Vivo, Calls it Minor Blip And Not Financial Crisis
BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has described the suspension of the IPL title sponsorship deal with Chinese mobile phone company Vivo as just a ‘blip’, dismissing talk that it might lead to a “financial crisis”. The title sponsorship is a significant part of the IPL’s commercial revenue, half of which is shared equally by the eight franchises. Vivo won the IPL title sponsorship rights for five years from 2018 to 2022 for a reported sum of Rs 2190 crore, approximately Rs 440 crore per annum.
While the BCCI is yet to announce how it would find a replacement for Vivo for the 2020 IPL which begins on September 19, Ganguly said board was well prepared to handle the situation.
“I wouldn’t call it as a financial crisis. It’s just a little bit of a blip. And the only way you can do it is by being professionally strong over a period of time. Big things don’t come overnight. And big things don’t go away overnight,” the 48-year-old Ganguly said during a webinar on Saturday, organized by educational book publishers S Chand Group.
“You keep your other options open. It is like Plan A and Plan B. Sensible people do it. Sensible brands do it. Sensible corporates do it,” he added.
The BCCI and Vivo on Thursday decided to suspend their partnership for the 2020 IPL beginning on September 19 in the UAE amid the clamour to boycott Chinese products in the wake of the Sino-India border stand-off.
Calling BCCI a very strong and self-reliant foundation, the chief stated: “BCCI, it’s a very strong foundation – the game, the players, the administrators in the past have made this game so strong that BCCI is able to handle all these blips.”
Ganguly also touched briefly on ICC decision on Friday to retain India as hosts for the 2021 men’s T20 World Cup. “India was designated (to host) the 2021 and 2023 World Cups so there is not a big change in that. Yes, the Covid situation had kept everybody alarmed, but that’s the way it is.”