We have seen many sponsors for Indian jerseys like Sahara, Star, and Byju’s. Vacant commercial space in Indian Jersey is rare. The general consensus on the board is not to pursue low-key stop-gap deals. In WTC Final, Indian Jersey will be without sponsorship.
With the Board of Control for Cricket in India aiming to proceed without any jersey sponsors, Rohit Sharma and Co.’s playing attire at the World Test Championship final may feel retro.
Many of the athletes who have started training in the UK can be seen wearing only their BCCI logo and the Adidas three stripes, which are the new kit sponsors.
WTC Final without Sponsor on Indian Jersey
In today’s time, where commercial slot exploitation is the norm, this is unusual. Due to unfavorable market conditions, Byju’s decided to cancel the contract with BCCI for jersey sponsorship in March. The agreement was supposed to last until November.
Officials from the BCCI were supposed to publish tenders inviting parties to a long-term association, but they haven’t done so because they haven’t received a favorable response from offline negotiations. Short-term association talks were also on the table, but it was decided not to proceed.
“It would only be fitting that Indian cricket engages with prestigious and long-term partners rather than going for low-key deals,” said by BCCI official.
Per ICC match and per bilateral international match under the prior agreement, the BCCI received more than 1 and 4 crore rupees, respectively. Even though the significance of ICC events has increased over time relative to other events, the BCCI, which is flush with cash, still views a few crores for a single match as a drop in the bucket. They’re willing to take the risk.
Finding Right Partners for Indian Jersey Before World Cup 2023
The board is hopeful that they will find the right partners in time for the home World Cup in October-November given their recent five-year contract with Adidas and the current busy ICC calendar, which includes a white-ball world event every year.
It will be rare to see an Indian team playing without Jersey sponsors.
Only the leading and non-leading arms of the WTC final whites may have commercial slots, according to the ICC. Leading IPL franchises like the Mumbai Indians profit more than $100 million per season from all sponsorship opportunities.
