Herald View: The curious case of cricket and Chinese companies 

China does not play cricket but Chinese companies have been sustaining Indian cricket for the past several years; and somewhat ironically Chinese company Vivo has now come to the rescue of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) when it chose this week to give up the title sponsorship of this year’s IPL League. It is ironical because just a day earlier the BCCI, with Home Minister Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah as the treasurer, had announced the decision to retain all existing IPL sponsors including Vivo, which had won the five-year bid to IPL sponsorship in 2017 for a whopping Rs 2,100 crore.

While it is possible that the decision, coming in the wake of Chinese aggression in Ladakh, was prompted by contractual obligations, such decisions are rarely taken without a nod from the Government. That is why the decision baffled many because the Indian Government has been sending tough signals to China in recent weeks, restricting Chinese imports, banning Chinese apps, including some which the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is alleged to have used in its poll campaignsand tacitly encouraging boycott of Chinese goods.

By allowing BCCI to retain the Chinese sponsor, it was sending out confusing signals. It did not come as a surprise, therefore, when Swadeshi Jagaran Manch affiliated to the RSS and All India Small Traders Association, both of which have been spearheading the boycott against Chinese goods, warned BCCI against retaining Chinese companies as sponsors.

The prompt decision by Vivo therefore to opt out bailed out the BCCI from a tricky corner and helped it save its face. It was also a smart move because the company has not entirely pulled out from the contract and could well return as the title sponsor once the dust settles down by next year. But for the time being, it has done BCCI a huge favour. Vivo is not the only Chinese company with investments in Indian cricket. China’s tech firm Tencent Holdings-backed online learning platform Byju replaced Oppo as the Indian cricket team’s official sponsor last year in international cricket. There are a host of other companies with substantial Chinese investment like Paytm, Big Basket and Ola etc. which advertise during cricket matches and add to the revenue of not just the BCCI but also of various media. The exposure of Chinese companies to Indian cricket is estimated to be over Rs 2000 crore every year. Can Indian Cricket afford to look the gift horse in the mouth?

The crisis points to the pitfalls of over-dependence on foreign companies. This is an opportunity to look for ways to monetise local infrastructure and resources and re-structure domestic competitions. American football, basketball, boxing and baseball, with virtually no appeal outside the US, have thrived on local support and monetised even college leagues and competition between cities. If not the same model, a similar model could work in India. With huge crowds and international cricket matches unlikely to return any time soon to the stadia, monetising domestic sports at smaller venues is a prospect worth exploring. People like to watch competitive sports and spectator sports can generate both employment and entertainment

While we obsess over cricket, the global industry value of cricket is estimated to be just six billion US Dollars compared to 600 billion for football. A country of India’s size can surely tap into domestic resources to promote sports and reduce dependence on foreign companies.