The Tata Group has replaced Vivo as the title sponsor for the Indian Premier League 2022 and 2023 editions.
“We are delighted with Tata Sons having come on board as the title sponsors for IPL. The situation arose with Vivo being unable to continue its association. Tatas will be the title sponsors for the next two editions,” IPL chairman Brijesh Patel told The Hindu after the IPL governing council meeting on Tuesday.
With Vivo deciding to pull out of its existing contract running till 2023, the credible Tata group stepped in, thus extending its association with Indian sport from tennis and badminton to cricket. The Hindu understands that the Tatas will have to shell out more than ₹440 crore per year that Vivo was paying, due to the increase in number of matches per edition from 60 to 74.
Brijesh confirmed that the IPL Governing Council (GC) finalised the mega-auction in Bengaluru next month and ratified the decision to award the Letter of Intent to the promoters of Ahmedabad and Lucknow franchises.
“As of now, the IPL Auction will be scheduled in Bengaluru on Feb. 12 and 13,” Brijesh said. “The two new teams will get two weeks to finalise their pre-auction signings, so depending on whether the letter is delivered today or tomorrow, they will have to submit the names around Jan. 25.”
The recent COVID-19 surge has yet again put a question mark on the fate of IPL’s 15th edition, with last year’s tournament being suspended midway through before being moved overseas. After discussing the issue, the GC has decided to ‘wait and watch’ approach.
“It is too early to take a call on IPL venues due to the dynamic COVID-19 scenario. We are hoping that we’ll be able to stage it in India. For that to happen, we will wait as late as possible,” Brijesh said.
