Mumbai: The BCCI and Vivo had officially suspended the IPL 2020 title sponsorship deal on Thursday (August 6). Now, the governing body will have to find a new title sponsor for IPL 13 at the earliest and the names have already been doing the rounds.
With the IPL 2020, scheduled to be held in the UAE from September 19 to November 10, is to coincide with the Diwali a number of business houses, including those who are already on the IPL board, are in the fray to become the new title sponsors.
As per a report in the Times of India, Amazon is the leading contender to land the deal of the title sponsor of the IPL 2020. But other players such as Byjus, the current jersey sponsors of the Indian team, Dream11, the present online gaming partners of the IPL, MyCircle11, Unacademy, an e-learning platform, are in contention. It has been speculated that even Jio, owned by Mukesh Ambani, could enter the field.
However, the market experts said the BCCI will have to take a pay cut while inking the new deal. The Vivo was paying nearly Rs 440 crore per year over a five-year deal, but the new contract could see the amount dipping to somewhere near Rs 300 crore. It is largely because the contract could only be for IPL 2020 as Vivo could make a return next year in IPL 2021.
The BCCI too had not specified the period of contract suspension or the reason behind the move. It has been talked that the on-going stand-off between India and China is the chief cause behind the decision and it is expected that Vivo could make a return next year given that the political tension between the two countries calms down by then.
