IPL 2020: After VIVO, Oppo, Real Me likely to pull out from this season
XtraTime Web Desk: In what might be a further setback for Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) , Chinese mobile companies OPPO and Real Me are also likely to follow the footsteps of VIVO in pulling out of sponsoring IPL 2020. This is in accordance with the prevailing anti-China sentiment yhat has hit the country ever since the border skirmishes between the soldiers of two nations in Ladakh. It is learnt that the decision to pull out is only for the 13th edition of Indian Premier League. This will be a huge blow to the host broadcasters Star India as all the above companies buy on-air package on Star Sports Network.
According to a report, not only VIVO, OPPO and Real Me, other Chinese companies like Xiomi and Lenovo are also in the process of pulling out due to the backlash. If all these Chinese companies does stay away from IPL 2020, it will hit Star India big time. Both Vivo & Oppo were big advertisers with Star during IPL 2019. According to BARC ON-AIR advertising data (ADEX Report), both VIVO & OPPO last year were in top 10 advertisers list for IPL 2019.
It has been seen over the trends that the mobile handset category is one of the biggest advertisers for the cash rich league. If the above mentioned companies decide to pull out this year it will be a big headache for the broadcasters to replace them.
