The exit of the Vivo as IPL's title sponsor for the 2020 season is a "blip" according to BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, and not a "financial crisis".
The title sponsorship is a significant part of the IPL's commercial revenue, part of which is shared by the eight franchises. In 2015, Vivo replaced Pepsico, who pulled out as IPL's title sponsors two years before the contract ended. In 2017 Vivo formally bagged the IPL title sponsorship until the end of the 2022 season, paying nearly USD 241 million.
While the BCCI is yet to announce how it would find a replacement for Vivo for the 2020 IPL which begins on September 19, Ganguly said board was well prepared to handle the situation.
"I wouldn't call it as a financial crisis," Ganguly said while speaking during a webinar on Saturday, organised by Learnflix, an education app in India. "It's just a little bit of a blip. 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.
"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. 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."
Ganguly also touched briefly on ICC decision on Friday to retain India as hosts for the 2021 men's T20 World Cup. "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."