On Tuesday, the Board of Cricket Council of India (BCCI) announced that the Indian startup Mobile Premier League (MPL) will be replacing Nike as the official kit sponsor. It also stated that it inked a deal with MPL sports subsidiary brand, MPL Sports, as the new kit sponsor and the official kit merchandise for the Indian Cricket Team.
According to the contract between the two, MPL has signed a three-year agreement starting from November 2020 to December 2023. The senior men and women as well as the under-19 team are a part of this new deal for the kits. In the upcoming men’s tour of Australia 2020-21, all of us will be able to see the new Indian jersey sponsored by MPL.
Along with the Indian jerseys, MPL will be selling the official and licensed merchandise of the Indian Cricket Team. MPL Sports has put forth that jerseys and the wide range of the team merchandise will be available to all the cricket fans at a very affordable price.
Presently, the global sports brand Nike was sponsoring the Indian team’s apparel. Also, according to the PTI reports, Nike has a 5 year contract from 2016 to 2020 with Team India and had supposedly paid INR 370 crore. However, MPL has not disclosed its sponsorship amount as of now.
The Officials of BCCI put forth
Sourav Ganguly, president, BCCI, stated, “We are delighted to announce the dawn of a new era for Indian cricket with the appointment of MPL Sports as the kit sponsor for the Indian men’s and women’s national cricket team until 2023. We look forward to MPL Sports adding a new chapter to the team’s kit, and bring Official BCCI licensed merchandise within easy and convenient reach for the billion-plus fans who cheer for Team India.”
MPL, founded by Sai Srinivas and Shubh Malhotra in 2018, has emerged strong in the fantasy gaming segment in the entire country. This startup has been trying to encourage the association with most beloved sport of the country, cricket. Amazingly, this year the startup was a part of many companies which sponsored the renowned T20 cricket tournaments IPL. Another well-known gaming startup that is supposed to be the rival company, Dream11, won the title sponsor of the tournament.
Abhishek Madhavan: Senior Vice-President stated
Abhishek Madhavan, senior vice-president, growth and marketing, MPL and MPL Sports while commenting on the partnership declared, “India is a market with a billion cricket fans and we see a lot of potential in the underpenetrated merchandise market in India. We hope to partner closely with the BCCI and take all kinds of team India merchandise to the masses – with offline as well as online distribution at affordable prices. Associating with the Indian national cricket team is a matter of huge pride for us and we want every fan in the country to feel the same way and have access to the merchandise they can proudly flaunt.”
About the other sponsors!
BYJU’s is the current sponsor of the Indian Team. Earlier Oppo was supposed to be the sponsor from 2017 to 2022 but was later handed over to BYJU’s in September 2019. From 2014 to 2017, the Indian team was sponsored by Star India, from 2002 to 2013 Sahara India Pariwar, and from 1993 to 2002 ITC Limited.
In August 2019, BCCI declared that Sporta Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (Dream11), LafargeHolcim (ACC Cement and Ambuja Cement), and Hyundai Motor India Ltd. have acquired the Official Partners’ Rights for all the official International and Domestic matches conducted during the years 2019-23.
The title sponsorship for all matches played within India in 2015 was sponsored by Paytm and was extended from 2019 to 2023. The previous title sponsors were Star India and Airtel.
The official broadcaster until 2023 is Star Sports Network for all the matches that will be conducted in India.
