Vivo IPL sponsorship rights: Why Tata Group replaced Vivo as IPL 2022 title sponsor?

Tata Group replaced Vivo: The biggest T20 tournament in the world will have a different title sponsor for the third consecutive year.

Multinational conglomerate Tata Group has joined the likes of real estate company DLF, beverage company Pepsi, mobile manufacturing company Vivo and fantasy sports platform Dream11 to be the title sponsor of the Indian Premier League.

In what will be the third title sponsor in as many years for the biggest T20 tournament of the world, a reputed organization such as Tata Group will replace Vivo midway through its five-year contract.

Set to be known as Tata IPL from the upcoming 15th season, fans can start expecting developments regarding IPL 2022 at regular intervals from now on. The same will commence with two new franchises Lucknow and Ahmedabad confirming their first three players before the auction.

Why Tata Group replaced Vivo as IPL 2022 title sponsor?

It is worth mentioning that Vivo had bagged IPL’s title sponsorship rights for a five-year period for INR 440 crore per year in 2018. Political tension between India and China had put a halt to the deal in 2020 bringing in Dream11 into the picture for a year.

However, Vivo had resumed its deal in IPL 2021 including extending their contract till 2023 to accommodate for a missed year in 2020. With Vivo exiting its contract midway, Tata Group will be the title sponsor of the IPL in 2022 and 2023.

“Vivo has exited and the Tatas will be title sponsors,” IPL Chairman Brijesh Patel told Cricbuzz without mentioning the reason behind Vivo’s exit. Having said that, speculations are rife that Vivo’s exit is more because of a lack of expected popularity from the deal.

IPL 2022, which will be a 10-team affair, will witness its auction being conducted in Bengaluru next month. If murmurs around the auction are to be believed, IPL 2022 auction is likely to be the last auction for a long time in the tournament.