Bengaluru, August 10: The IPL 2020 has currently been left without a title sponsor after the BCCI suspended the deal with Chinese smartphone giants Vivo. It has been speculated that the decision was taken after the current Indo-China stand-off.
It has also been reported that Amazon, Byjus, Dream11, MyCircle11 and Unacademy are in the running to land the title sponsor deal of the IPL 2020, though at a reduced rate. Now, the news has come out that Patanjali, an ayurvedic firm owned by Yoga guru Baba Ramdev, might join the competition to sign the deal with the BCCI.
"We are considering the IPL title sponsorship for this year, since we want to give the Patanjali brand a global marketing platform," Patanjali spokesperson SK Tijarawala told Economic Times.
However, chances of them actually landing the deal is quite remote owing to the limited the global presence of Patanjali unlike their rivals.
"Patanjali as a title sponsor for IPL will do more for Patanjali than for IPL. While the caste hierarchy among brands could play out, Patanjali owning the title sponsorship would be contextual from a nationalist perspective, since there is an enormous anti-China sentiment prevailing in the country," said brand strategist Harish Bijoor.