MUMBAI: Reliance Industries-owned Mumbai Indians has added RIL-controlled Viacom18’s flagship Hindi general entertainment channel Colors as principal sponsor of the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, alongside Samsung.
The 12th edition of the IPL is set to kick off on March 23 on the Star India network channels.
Mumbai Indians will don the Colors logo on the back of their jerseys while the Samsung logo will have pride of place on the shirt front.
For some context, MI’s ongoing three-year principal sponsorship deal with Samsung is reportedly worth about Rs 250 million per year. The South Korean consumer electronics giant replaced Videocon as MI’s lead sponsor last year.
Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings are the two most successful franchises in the IPL, each having won the title thrice.
Commenting on the partnership, a spokesperson from Viacom18 said: “Cricket is like a religion in India that brings every member of the family together and so does a leading general entertainment channel like Colors. Therefore, associating with the most popular cricketing team of IPL, Mumbai Indians, which enjoys tremendous adulation, is a perfect blend with our brand positioning. Both Colors and Mumbai Indians are consistent, entertaining, ambitious and aggressive and exemplify the same ethos. This is yet another avenue for us to connect with our audiences both on and off the field as well as on air.”
Setting the tone for the IPL fever, Colors will bring viewers closer to the Mumbai Indians players through a series of innovative integrations and contests on air as well as through digital engagement.
A Mumbai Indians spokesperson added: “We are extremely delighted to bring Colors as the principal sponsor for Mumbai Indians and look forward to develop a long term, mutually benefiting association. Through the journey this IPL, Mumbai Indians and Colors will create consumer-centric entertaining content, which we hope our global fans will appreciate and associate with.”
MI’s sponsor roster for 2019 includes DHFL and Reliance Jio as associate sponsors; with official partners being Kingfisher, Usha, Sharp, Burger King, Taiwan Excellence, Dream11, New Era, boAt, Performax, Reliance Foundation, BookmyShow, DNA Networks, Radio City and Fever FM.
For the record, Samsung is also a partner for Reliance Jio, having set up the pan-India Jio 4G LTE network, which today lays claim to being the world’s biggest and busiest data network in the world.
