With Dream 11’s winning bid to bag the Indian Premier League title rights, the speculation about who will sponsor this year’s IPL has finally been settled. However, the problem for which VIVO had to exit the tournament does not looks to be solved.
As per Crunchbase, the fantasy sports platform also has a Chinese connection. Chinese technology conglomerate Tencent has invested over $ 100 million dollars in the Indian gaming unicorn in 2018.
In the wake of the controversy surrounding Chinese investments in the Indian market, VIVO had to withdraw from sponsoring the IPL Title two weeks ago.
Following BCCI invited fresh bids. Dream 11 made the highest bid for the title sponsorship at ₹ 222 crores. This was followed by Unacademy bidding ₹ 210 crores, Tata Sons at ₹ 180 crores and Byju’s at ₹ 125 crores.
However, it is worth noting that the sponsorship amount is almost half of what was being paid by Chinese smartphone maker Vivo. Vivo had won the IPL title sponsorship rights for five years in 2018 after offering ₹ 440 crores per year as sponsorship amount.
But there is an option for Vivo to return as IPL title sponsor next year if it wants to. Should Vivo India come back to the table next year, Dream 11 will have to make way. However, if Vivo does not return as title sponsors, the fantasy sports start-up will continue to hold the title rights until the 2022 edition.
It is to be seen how BCCI defends its move of replacing Chinese mobile manufacturer VIVO with Dream 11 which has China’s Tencent with over $ 100 million invested in the gaming platform company. Tencent, known for its popular messaging app WeChat, has more than 10 investments in India, including Flipkart, Ola, Swiggy and Byju’s Classes.