New Delhi: In the 1990s, the American beverage giants Coca-Cola and Pepsi slugged it out on the cricket field for becoming first among equals in the endorsement and sponsorship sweepstakes.
A few years later, it was Korean consumer durable majors — LG and Samsung who were engaged in a high decibel marketing battle over sponsorship and other deals. Now, in the third wave, it is the Chinese. Enter Vivo, Oppo and also Paytm, which have a substantial Chinese ownership, who are battling for space in the India’s cricketing whirligig. Chinese bulge bracket finance is already powering India’s two most-indebted sectors — power and telecom.
As the battle over the IPL broadcast rights for the next 10 years reaches a fever pitch with Star, Sony and who knows who else slug it out for the crickentertainment rights, it is interesting to note that the Chinese — who don’t even play the game — are some of the biggest sponsors of Indian cricket.
Over the next couple of years, they are expected to invest close to $20 billion in Indian consumer goods directly and indirectly in sponsorship and brand building.
Last year, Chinese mobile phone maker Vivo inked a two-year title sponsorship deal worth '200 crore replacing PepsiCo, as IPL’s title sponsor. Pepsi had signed a five-year deal for '396 crore for the rights of IPL. While Pepsi became the title sponsor of the league in 2013 after DLF’s five-year deal ended, it was in the same year that the IPL was hit by allegations of match-fixing.
Oppo, part of the same parent company BBK Electronics, has signed a four-year global partnership contract with the International Cricket Council for $8.5 million per year ($34 million or Rs 225 crore over four years.) Earlier, Oppo was involved with cricket was as the title sponsor for the 2014 edition of Champions League T20 tournament.
Late last year, Paytm bagged the title sponsorship rights of the BCCI till 2019 for Rs 203 crore or about Rs 2.42 crore a match. Billionaire Jack Ma promoted Chinese internet giant Alibaba Group holds around 25 per cent in Paytm. Ant Financial, the finance arm of Alibaba, invested about $500 million for a 25 per cent stake in Paytm, India’s largest mobile wallet company.
Meanwhile, Nike’s contract as the apparel sponsor for the Indian cricket team was renewed. The deal is said to have increased to Rs 1 crore per match. It previously was Rs 80-85 lakh per match in the previous deal.
For the non-cricket-loving world, cricket is still an archetypal English game. The truth, however, is different. A heady mix of money, marketing and passion has virtually made the Indian subcontinent the commercial axis of the game. That IPL, despite the controversies, remain the most sought-after league for international cricketers, only underlines how the equilibrium of cricket economics has firmly shifted to India.
