Indian cricket team finds new sponsor

Despite the uncertainty caused by the pandemic, cricket remains the most popular sport in India, and it is thus also the most valuable from a merchandise and brand value perspective for companies looking for sponsorships. Thus, even though almost every sector and aspect of businesses globally have been hit hard by the pandemic, this has not stopped the Indian national cricket team from being able to find a new sponsor for their jerseys.

The fantasy gaming platform Mobile Premier League (MPL) has been announced as the new apparel and merchandise sponsor of the Indian cricket team. Such partnerships and sponsorships are increasingly common in the online gaming and gambling space. Gambling is still illegal in India, but fantasy sports are not, which is why platforms such as MPL and Dream11 have been able to pick up lucrative sponsorships such as for the Indian Premier League as well, as more and more people looked to play such games during the lockdown. You can find an overview of the games that entered the virtual world during the pandemic in the article by Winz.io. Elsewhere, casino campaigns are quite common in sports, as can be seen by the number of English football clubs who have a betting or gambling operator as their shirt sponsor, and therefore at the front and center of their jerseys. In fact, in the English Premier League, nearly half of the 20 teams have a betting company on the front of their jerseys, while all the teams have an official betting partner. This figure rises even more when you look at the Championship, which is the second division in English football, and shows both the popularity of gambling in the UK, and the hold that it has over various popular and major sports. The Championship, League One and League Two, which form the English Football League system, are all sponsored by Sky Bet, which is another betting company.

This deal between MPL and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which is the governing body for cricket in India, is a three-year deal, according to which MPL will pay Rs 65 lakh ($82,300) per match for the kit sponsorship, while also paying Rs 3 crore ($403,000) every year for the duration of the deal as a merchandise sponsorship.

MPL replaces Nike, whose contract to supply kits for the team was worth Rs 88 lakh ($118,000) per match. MPL, which is a mobile esports platform, has also launched an apparel manufacturing company, and it is this entity which will supply the kits for the national team. This deal represents quite a shift for the Indian side, given that Nike had been the apparel sponsor for the side since 2006. According to reports, the American company had requested for its partnership to be continued, but at a reduced rate, given the pandemic. However, this was rejected by the BCCI, which instead invited tenders in August. Rival sportswear manufacturers Adidas and Puma were linked but did not end up submitting bids.

The BCCI will also receive 10% of all merchandise sales as royalty, on top of the annual merchandise fee from MPL. The reduced value of the kit deal shows the impact that the pandemic has had on finances all across the board, but it was the BCCI’s prerogative to look for a new sponsor. Nevertheless, it may come to regret this decision, as MPL is a new company, and a complete newbie in terms of apparel manufacturing.

It also marks an expansion into cricket for the MPL brand, which already has existing deals with IPL teams Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders, and is a swift rise for a company that was only set up in 2018, and that too as a mobile esports brand.