The Indian Premier League, "which has seen its image take a beating after the 2013 spot-fixing scandal, suffered another blow on Friday with title sponsor PepsiCo expressing its intent of pulling out" to the Board of Control for Cricket in India, according to Gaurav Gupta of the TIMES OF INDIA. The beverage giant "had bagged the five-year IPL title sponsorship contract" in '12 by paying Rs 396 crore and is now said to be "keen to pull out of the deal" due to issues that have brought the game into "disrepute." The danger of losing a major sponsor "is a big challenge." PepsiCo's payment "was considered to be significantly high despite the eyeballs that the league was attracting." What is more, the soft drink market has in itself "slowed down over last year, hurting major players, including Pepsi." PepsiCo "had reportedly decided to pull out of the IPL deal last year itself," but the BCCI managed to convince it to stay on for another year (TIMES OF INDIA, 10,11). The INDIAN EXPRESS' Pandey & Chakrabarty wrote the BCCI "sought to downplay PepsiCo’s decision," but the beverage brand's termination notice "squarely blames" the cricket board for breaching the contract for title sponsorship by failing to keep the sport clean. The BCCI and PepsiCo said in a joint statement that they were engaged in “amicable discussions” and “working towards solutions in the interests of the league.” But in its notice to the board, PepsiCo "is far from cordial." The notice stated, "BCCI failed to act in a fair and transparent manner to prevent or take corrective measures in respect of such sporting frauds" (INDIAN EXPRESS, 10/11). In Mumbai, Sanjjeev K. Samyal wrote it is not just about the title sponsorship, the T20 league franchises’ concerns "also include the fate of the lucrative individual sponsorship deals they have with PepsiCo India." Barring the Mumbai Indians, most other IPL sides have sponsorship deals with Pepsi for "pouring rights." Pepsi pays around Rs 2 crore ($308,700) per season each "for the exclusive rights of selling beverages of their brands at the franchises’ home stadiums during the games." The co-owner of a franchise said, "If the news about them pulling out of the IPL sponsorship is true, it’s a big loss. In these times when the brand value of the IPL is down so much, it will be difficult to sell the ‘pouring rights’ for more than Rs 50 lakh ($77,200)." The franchises "are also concerned over the fact that the revenue share of the teams, which is based on the IPL’s income, might be affected." He said, "The state of economy is not great, it will hurt the central revenue share of the teams if the title sponsorship amount drops" (HINDUSTAN TIMES, 10/11).
