China’s VIVO pulls out of IPL, Big Boss, PKL title sponsorship amid border row
DHARAMSALA, 7 Aug: Chinese smartphone manufacturer VIVO has pulled out of the three title sponsorship deals in India amid ongoing Indo-China border row.
VIVO has walked out of title sponsorship deals from the Indian Premier League(IPL) for the 2020 edition as well as ‘Big Boss’ reality show and the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) following the negative publicity it received since the India-China border row, reported the Economic Times.
“Vivo has decided to lie low amid all the negative publicity the brand was generating since the India-China clash on the border,” the report added citing an unnamed source.
The source has further stated that the company has decided to exit from all its major deals, at least for this year, while focussing on selling products via more retail discount and commissions.
Earlier on 2 Aug, IPL, the world’s richest cricket tournament faced protest over its ties with the VIVO as its main sponsor.
“One nationalist group threatened to call a boycott of the IPL, picking up one a wave of anti-Chinese sentiment after a clash on the border between the neighbours’ armies in which 20 Indian soldiers died,” the TOI reported on 4 Aug.
Vivo won the IPL, a professional Twenty20 cricket league in India’s title sponsorship rights for five years from 2018 to 2022 for a reported sum of Rs 2190 crore while its deal with Viacom18-owned Colors Channel for Bigg Boss was worth Rs 30 crore, while it paid Rs 60 crore for PKL.
