6 notable brands to have heavily invested in cricket

Cricket is one of India’s most coveted means of entertainment. Big cricket fixtures attract millions of viewers, with exciting betting opportunities provided on the best bookmaker apps like Bet365–with the official website lavishing punters with remarkable in-play markets.

Given the overwhelming crowds of fans cricket attracts, top companies are investing in the sport. In this article, we will learn about some top companies that have put serious money into cricket.

Nissan

Founded in 1933, this public Japanese multinational automobile company is one of the biggest automakers in the world. 

They are focused on manufacturing automobiles, commercial vehicles, outboard motors, luxury vehicles, and forklift trucks and have the world as their target market.

Nissan, being under the Nissan Motor Corporation trade name, is a division alongside Infiniti, Nismo, and Datsun. Nissan is one of the most successful automakers in Japan, recording over ¥9.750 trillion in revenue.

When it comes to sponsorships, Nissan has long been one of the sponsors of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 2015. 

They have consistently sponsored cricketing activities in India. They basically serve as the official car brand for cricket tournaments, including the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022. 

As a side note, a sponsorship extension until the 2023 games for Nissan, being the main car brand for the International Cricket Council (ICC), has been announced.

Oppo

Standing as one of the popular smartphone subsidiaries, which was founded in 2004, Oppo is one of the major Chinese brands that are knee-deep in consumer electronics. 

They are also known for producing a wide range of consumer electronics, such as audio devices, smart devices, power banks, and a range of other electronic products. 

Although Oppo is invested in many electronic products, they are popular for their smartphones, the ColorOS, Hi-Fi, and Home theatres. They are a subsidiary brand alongside OnePlus and has recorded over $37 billion in revenue.

In 2016, Oppo spent massively in cricket. They signed a four-year global partnership with the International Cricket Council (ICC) and have long brought their camera prowess into the game. 

Throughout the years, they have covered the 2016 ICC World T20, the 2017 ICC Women’s World Cup, the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy, the 2018 ICC Women’s World T20, and the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup.

Known for its breakthrough camera in smartphones, Oppo was seen launching cricket-limited edition smartphones while starting campaigns to promote cricket tournaments. They also encouraged fans to record and share moments of the big cricket games.

Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola is one of the most popular Cola drinks companies with massive sales worldwide. Founded in 1886, the American carbonated soft drink company has amassed a wide range of Coca-Cola variants, like the Diet Coke Caffeine-Free, Diet Coke, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, Coca-Cola Cherry, and Caffeine-Free Coca-Cola, among others. 

Coca-Cola is known to be the biggest rival to Pepsi, RC Cola, and Afri-Cola, with over $38.7 billion in revenue. Since its establishment, they have engaged in a lot of advertising, campaigns, and sponsorships, including sports.

Coca-Cola’s sponsorships in cricket can be traced back to the 1996 Cricket World Cup, which was held on the Indian subcontinent. After then, they went radio-silence on cricket sponsorships. But in 2019, they were announced to replace PepsiCo to become the International Cricket Council (ICC) sponsor and signed a 5-year deal. 

Since then, Coca-Cola has been seen sponsoring ICC events, including the 2019 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in England and Wales, the 2020 ICC men’s and women’s T20 World Cups in Australia, the 2021 ICC Women’s World Cup in New Zealand, and the 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in India.

Booking.com

Founded in 1996, this travel and accommodation services online platform, Booking.com, has grown to be one important website in the world today. All that Booking.com do is provide online reservation services across hotels and rentals all around the world. And they are great at it. So far, this online platform has made over $17 billion in revenue.

Although they don’t look invested in sports, surprisingly, Booking.com has its tentacles strongly wrapped around cricket sponsorships. 

Signing a five-year sponsorship deal in 2019, Booking.com has been actively seen in the 2019 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, the 2020 ICC Women’s and Men’s T20 World Cups, the 2021 ICC Women’s World Cup, the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, the 2022 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, and the 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup. 

Standing as the best hotel and rental reservation platform, Booking.com will be offering exclusive attractions and accommodation booking services throughout its deal tenure for all ICC events.

Emirates

With over 150 destinations and 260 fleet size, Emirates is known as one of the biggest and most famous global airlines. Founded in 1985, this United Arab Emirates commercial airline has expanded into having more than 4 subsidiaries, including Arabian Adventures, Congress Solutions International, Emirates Holidays, and Emirates Tours, with over $16.7 billion in revenue.

Fortunately, Emirates is not only overly focused on the logistics industry, but they also meddle in sports too! They have a long history of sponsoring cricket events which date back to 2002. Since then, they have actively sponsored the ICC Women’s World Cup, ICC Cricket World Cup, ICC World Twenty20, and ICC World Test Championship.

MRF Tyres

Established in 1946, this public Indian company is all about producing tyres and rubber products targeted at the world market. They are also known for manufacturing toys, coats, conveyor belts, and sports equipment. They have grown to pull off more than $2.1 billion in revenue yearly.

Just like some big brands out there, MRF Tyres are also invested in cricket sponsorships (it’s not surprising coming from an Indian company, though). They are long known to be big sponsors of cricket teams and cricket players in India. In 2015, MRF Tyres officially became a global partner of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

There you have it – the brands sponsoring cricket. Of course, they also sponsor other forms of sports, and there are still lots of brands sponsoring cricket too. Some of these brands are new to their sponsoring deals, while some are long into the game.