Mobile manufacturing company Vivo, who had suspended their IPL title sponsorship rights for the 2020 edition, is back for the IPL 2021, IPL Chairman Brijesh Patel confirmed at the start of the IPL Player Auction.
In their absence last year, Dream11 had stepped in as the title sponsors. The IPL mini-auction is on February 18 in Chennai with a maximum of 61 slots up for the grabs.
“The BCCI and Vivo Mobile India Pvt. Ltd. have decided to suspend their partnership for the Indian Premier League in 2020,” the BCCI said in an unsigned media release. A statement by the mobile phone manufacturer said both parties “have mutually decided to pause their partnership for the 2020 season of the Indian Premier League”.
Dream11 became the IPL title sponsors for 2020 by winning the rights for Rs 222 crore, nearly half (Rs 440 crore) of what Vivo was paying annually for a five-year deal.
Vivo and the Board of Control for Cricket in India had suspended a Rs 440 crore-per-year deal for IPL 2020 due to the India-China border standoff.
The T20 league in 2020 was played from 19 September to 10 November in the United Arab Emirates, moving out of India for the second time in history due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Vivo had joined the IPL bandwagon in 2016 signing a five year deal till 2022, taking over from Pepsi, who had taken over from the initial title sponsors DLF.
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