BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has said that the suspension of VIVO as the title sponsor of the Indian Premier League’s upcoming edition is not a financial crisis by just a blip.
During a webinar organised by educational book publishers S Chand Group, Ganguly said, “I wouldn’t call it as a financial crisis. It’s just a little bit of a blip.”
Ganguly also assured that BCCI has a ‘Plan B’ and said, “BCCI, it’s a very a strong foundation – the game, the players, the administrators in the past have made this game so strong that BCCI is able to handle all these blips. You keep your other options open. It is like Plan A and Plan B. Sensible people do it. Sensible brands do it. Sensible corporates do it.
“And the only way you can do it is by being professionally strong over a period of time. Big things don’t come overnight. And big things don’t go away overnight. Your preparation for a long period of time gets (you) ready for losses, gets you ready for successes.”
The title sponsorship is important for IPL’s revenue. Half of the revenue will be shared by the franchisees equally. Vivo won the IPL title sponsorship rights for five years from 2018 to 2022.
Reacting to the ICC’s decision to stay India’s hosting rights of 2021 World Cup, Ganguly said, “India was designated (to host) the 2021 and 2023 World Cups so there is not a big change in that. Yes, the COVID situation had kept everybody alarmed, but that’s the way it is.”
