The Indian Premier League (IPL) which is the richest domestic T20 league in the world faced a lot of problems in organizing the 2020 IPL tournament. The COVID-19 situation made it impossible to organization the IPL during the usual April to May slot.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the IPL governing body had to postpone the tournament to the fourth quarter of 2020 and move it outside India to the United Arab Emirates.
The BCCI also had to search for a new main sponsor after Chinese based Vivo pulled out due to political tensions between India and China in 2020.
When Vivo pulled out suddenly as the main sponsor, the BCCI had to quickly find a replacement sponsor and was forced to take a massive cut in revenues. Vivo was contracted to pay 440 crores for the tournament but the eventual sponsor Dream 11 paid only 222 crores to sponsor IPL 2020.
The BCCI agreed to a lower rate because there was not enough time to find a new sponsor for the 2020 IPL commenced and also due to the fact that the sponsorship was only for 2020. Market analysts were confident that Vivo would make a return and be the main sponsor for the IPL when the political tensions between India and China simmered. They were right as Vivo is back to sponsor Vivo IPL 2021.
The 2021 IPL will take place in India and will run from April 9 to May 30. The IPL will be played across 6 venues to restrict travel and keep players and support staff in a bio-bubble.
The BCCI was very happy with the 2020 IPL as it saw great TRP ratings and the tournament was a big success in terms of the quality of cricket. Even though IPL 2020 turned out to be great, the brand value for the IPL has dropped in 2020.
Market analysts gave the IPL a brand value of 47,500 crores in 2019 and the same has dropped to 45,800 crores in 2020. The two main reasons for this is because of the change of the main sponsor and the loss of sponsorship revenue, and also because the Indian economy has declined in 2020.
Mumbai Indians who are the defending champions also take the top spot in the terms of the IPL franchise with the highest brand value even though their brand value has dropped by 5.9 percent in 2020.
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