Chinese Brands, Amongst Others Face Ban As BCCI Seeks Title Sponsorship For IPL
BCCI Secretary Jay Shah With BCCI President Roger Binny (X.com)
The Indian Premier League, one of the most lucrative and widely watched T20 cricket leagues globally, has traditionally attracted sponsorship from various brands, both domestic and international. In recent years, Chinese brands have been prominent sponsors, contributing to the league's financial success.
However, BCCI faced backlash after it lent title rights to Vivo, a Chinese mobile manufacturing company, a few years ago. Apparently, as border tensions between India and China worsened, the Indian government issued an advisory for everyone to reject China-based brands and products.
Eventually, Vivo had to back out due to political pressure and intense public resentment.
Later, BCCI obliged the government's advisory and chose TATA as its title sponsor for the 2023 IPL season. However, TATA's contract expired at the end of 2023, and thus, BCCI has put out a release to seek tenders for the next five years of sponsorship.
BCCI Takes Strong Stand Against Chinese Firms
Moreover, as per Cricbuzz, the cricket board released a set of stringent conditions that disallow multiple companies from taking part in the bidding process. Besides China-based companies, betting and gambling apps have been barred from filing contenders. Additionally, fantasy gaming, cryptocurrency trading, alcohol and sports apparel brands have also been asked to stay away from the sponsorship bid.
"Each bidder which is a corporate entity must not be incorporated in a jurisdiction/territory with which India does not have a friendly relation," read BCCI's tender invitation.
BCCI apparently wants to attract homegrown companies for the title sponsorship bids to make the league more exclusive.
Currently, the agreement price is reserved for INR 360 crores annually for a period of five years. The price aligns with what TATA was paying in these past few years.
That being said, the move to disallow Chinese firms' association with IPL stems from the diplomatic tension between the two neighbouring Asian countries. India's stand against China and its global market has been aggressive, as it previously banned several apps of Chinese origin.
Thus, to avoid any further backlash, BCCI chose to abide by the Indian government's advice and took a strong stand against big Chinese companies.
 "Akshita Patel")
