Apollo Tyres, which has secured the Indian cricket team’s front-of-jersey sponsorship rights, sees the partnership as an opportunity to strengthen its presence in semi-urban and rural markets, where cricket’s wide television and digital reach provides scale.
The company plans consumer-focused activations around the partnership and will lean on its brand ambassador, Sachin Tendulkar, to strengthen visibility. “Sachin is the face of Indian cricket. No better person to wear our jersey,” Apollo Tyres vice-chairman and MD Neeraj Kanwar told The Economic Times.
Kanwar said the deal is aimed at more than just logo visibility, highlighting the deep trust consumers place in Team India’s blue jersey. “It will create more sales, expand distribution and gain us more market share,” he told ET.
Apollo had committed ₹579 crore to secure the deal, which runs till March 2028, outbidding rivals Canva and JK Cement. Kanwar defended the investment, saying the India jersey carries an inherent premium. “Obviously, there’s a premium to it. But when you get into a bidding process, you will add a premium, and the jersey commands that,” Kanwar said.
Under the agreement, Apollo will pay ₹4.5 crore per bilateral and Asia Cup match, and ₹1.72 crore per ICC/ACC event game, both above the base prices of ₹3.5 crore and ₹1.5 crore. Dream11 had earlier paid ₹3 crore and ₹1 crore per match for bilaterals and multilateral tournaments, respectively.
The fact that the tyre major will pay 62% more than what outgoing sponsor Dream11 had been paying, underscores the enduring appeal of one of India’s most sought-after sports assets. The BCCI floated the tender after Dream11 exited the slot, following the government’s ban on real-money gaming.
Interestingly, it was Canva, an Australian multinational proprietary software company, that submitted the second-highest bid at ₹554 crore, followed by JK Cement at ₹477 crore.
Comments the tech company’s co-founder and chief product officer, Cameron Adams, made during his first visit to India earlier this year offer some clues as to the why of it.
Adams had said that India was its fourth largest market in terms of active user base and could become the largest one in the next five years. He had also said that the company would focus on making more localised products, tailored to India’s unique cultural context.
Canva is valued at over $40 billion, has more than 230 million users in 190 countries and has an annual recurring revenue of over $3bn.
