IPL 2020 could still gain ₹700 crore from Chinese brands advertising in it: Report

The India-China relationship has perhaps reached its lowest point ever in the past few weeks. As many as 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives in a cross-border fight with the Chinese army. The incident gave rise to a huge turmoil and people from all over the country called for banning Chinese products.

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IPL sponsors: Chinese brands planning to spend ₹700 crore on advertising in IPL 2020

According to some reports recently, the BCCI retained VIVO as the title sponsors for IPL 2020, which was announced after the IPL Governing Council meeting on Sunday. IPL 2020 sponsors VIVO has been paying ₹440 crore annually as IPL’s title sponsorship fee since 2018. The IPL VIVO deal was done in 2018 for being the title sponsor of IPL for 5 years. 

However, as of Monday, the BCCI confirmed to Republic World that VIVO has pulled out of the deal this year with the BCCI and would only return as its title sponsor in 2021, perhaps reacting to extreme social media pressure with the IPL brand being under threat. According to a MoneyControl report, the BCCI might have to now settle for another sponsor paying just ₹250-300 crore for the rights for just one year.

In another development, it has been learnt that despite the IPL VIVO deal snapped for 2020, several Chinese brands are all set to spend a hefty amount on advertising during the IPL 2020. These Chinese brands are planning to spend ₹700 crore on the ads as IPL sponsors. According to estimates of media buyers, numerous Chinese smartphone brands spend a lot of money on the cash-rich league to advertise their products. Brands such as Oppo (which is co-incidentally owned by the same parent company as VIVO), Xiaomi, Realme, and OnePlus take up premium ad slots, spending more than ₹500 crore of on-air advertising money throughout the tournament.

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While speaking to Livemint, Sandeep Goyal, chairman, Mogae Media, a Mumbai-based marketing and communication agency said that the Chinese brands were quite visible recently on The Kapil Sharma Show as it returned to the screen after the lockdown hiatus. According to Goyal, Chinese mobiles will advertise during the IPL 2020 too. He added that the Chinese brands account for a substantial chunk of the advertising revenues that Star India is expecting. Goyal pointed out that their spends contribute about 20-25% of the total IPL revenues.

The massive uproar for boycotting Chinese brands hasn’t led to the diminution of Chinese smartphones in the Indian market because of immense advertising on online and offline platforms. The India lockdown has made people realize the importance of technology. The mobile industry now claims that consumers will be more entitled to invest in such brands.

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Biswajit Dhar, who is a professor of trade at Jawaharlal Nehru University, reckoned that the government needs to come out with a medium-to-long-term plans to reduce Chinese dependence in strategic areas such as pharmaceuticals and telecom. He added that separating from China has to be carefully done and it has to be a well thought out process and not a knee-jerk one.

Dhar reiterated that India’s economy right now is too dependent on China. He also said that the sponsorship of IPL and taking loans from the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank are areas where government policy “seems unclear". 

When will IPL start?

Ever since the IPL 2020 was indefinitely postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, fans started wondering 'When will IPL start? To answer the 'When will IPL start' query, the IPL 2020 will start on September 19 and go on till November 10, which was announced by the BCCI after the Government Council meeting on Sunday. The IPL dates haven't been announced yet. However, the IPL dates are soon expected to be announced after BCCI's meeting with the franchises.

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IMAGE COURTESY: INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE TWITTER