Untold Truth about Chinese Investments in IPL you must know

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Arbaz Sayed

Apr 17, 2021 — 4 min read

IPL is the most loved cricket league in India. Brands pay a hefty amount to get that title sponsor. Vivo was the title sponsor of IPL from 2016 to 2019 but due to rising tension in the galwan valley Indian government banned 59 apps. This led to a huge uproar against BCCI for having Chinese smartphone maker Vivo as an IPL title sponsor.

In 2016 Vivo replaced Pepsi as the title sponsor in 2016, had signed a five-season deal from 2018 to 2022 worth a whopping ₹440 crore per edition. Which has been now replaced by Dream 11, but The question is Are there still any Chinese Investments in IPL?

Are there still any Chinese Investments in IPL?

For IPL 2020 Dream11 has been replaced as the title sponsor Vivo over the dispute with Chinese, the fantasy gaming start-up has bagged the title sponsorship rights for the Indian Premier League 2020 for Rs 222 crore.

Traders’ body Confederation of All India Traders on 19th August wrote to BCCI objecting Dream 11 winning the title sponsor, as a Chinese company has invested heavily in Indian company Dream11. The value is as high as $100million.

The company which has invested in many popular Indian companies and Dream11 is none other than 'Tencent'. Tencent is one of the Top Chinese Investors Of The Startup Ecosystem In India .It has invested in Dream11 in Series D funding in 2018.

What did CAIT have to say about it?

CAIT (Confederation of All India Traders) is leading a campaign for the boycott of Chinese goods and they have expressed,

“We are deeply pained to note that now Dream 11 has been chosen as sponsor of IPL 2020 which has Chinese company Tencent Global as one of the major stakeholders. We are of the considered opinion that awarding sponsorship to Dream 11 is nothing but a bye pass route to neglect the sentiments and feelings prevailing among the people of India against China for its regular attempts to invade the interests of India,” the CAIT letter said.

Is it possible to Remove all of the Chinese Investments From Indian Sports?

The real question is Is it possible to remove all of the Chinese Investments from Indian sports, it is possible but its not practical.

Almost every company that is linked with is lPL or any other Indian sports or team for that matter is Chinese or at least have a considerable investment from them. OPPO which is a chinese company had a 5 year partnership with BCCI to be the official sports sponsor of under-19 cricket team, Men’s A team and woman’s team.

OPPO transferred the official team sponsorship to Byjus, which has a huge investment from Tencent, which is a Chinese company that has invested in many popular Indian companies.

The thing is that almost all startups in India have some Chinese investment or are backed by Chinese investors. Chinese investors have found Indian startups valuable and invested in the top startups, the investors have funded over 18 out of 30 unicorns in India which is roughly around $3.9 billion of investments in 2019. It is not practically possible to remove every Chinese investment from all Indian Sports.