Chinese Company Vivo Returns as IPL Title Sponsor

Vivo IPL Trophy at the IPL Player Auction. 

Image: BCCI/IPL

Ahead of IPL 2021, the Chinese smartphone company Vivo have returned as the title sponsor for the tournament, almost a year after the deal with the BCCI was suspended amid the India-China border standoff.

“Vivo is back as the title sponsor of IPL and that is very encouraging and exciting for us because IPL is the biggest property in India and is a perfect amalgamation of sports and entertainment, so we are looking forward to the 9th of April, when IPL begins,” Vivo India Director Brand Strategy Nipun Marya was quoted as saying by PTI.

Marya further added that the temporary hold was a mutual decision between them and the BCCI given the larger environment.

Image: The Quint 

“The whole environment has certainly now changed for the better and overall the environment is better. I think it’s befitting that Vivo is back as the IPL title sponsor… Our old contract is as it is and we continue with all the terms and conditions we earlier had on the contract,” Marya said.

IPL 2021 will be played 9 April to 30 May across six venues — Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi and Kolkata. The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad will host the final and the play-offs.

The Chinese company had won the title sponsorship rights for five years from 2018 to 2022 for a reported sum of Rs 2,190 crore. But due to the pause on the deal they will now be the sponsors till 2023. Dream11 had replaced Vivo as IPL title sponsors for the 2020 edition.