Are Cricket Sponsorships Moving Back to "Cleaner" Categories?

When the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill passed through Parliament in August 2025, it did more than ban real money gaming platforms. It ended a brief but intense chapter in Indian cricket's commercial history and forced the Board of Control for Cricket in India to confront an uncomfortable question: had the sport become too dependent on categories operating in regulatory gray zones?  

Dream11, which held a three year deal worth approximately INR 358 crore as the principal jersey sponsor from July 2023 to March 2026, exited within weeks. Team India played the Asia Cup 2025 without any logo on their shirts, a jarring visual that symbolized the abrupt end of an era. 

The BCCI's response was swift and revealing. Apollo Tyres, a Gurugram based tyre manufacturer with operations in over 100 countries, secured the replacement deal with a bid of Rs 579 crore, outbidding competitors like Canva and JK Cements. More significantly, the BCCI explicitly barred companies from online gaming, betting, crypto, and tobacco sectors from future bids.  

This was not just crisis management but a deliberate pivot toward what administrators now frame as sustainable partnerships. The Apollo deal marks the first time a traditional manufacturing brand has held India's principal jersey sponsorship since Star India's brief stint from 2014 to 2017, and the first time a manufacturing company has done so in the modern big money era. 

A Pattern Worth Examining 

To understand where cricket sponsorships might be heading, it helps to look at where they have been. According to multiple cricket historians tracking sponsorship evolution, the jersey sponsorship journey began with ITC Limited paying INR 35 lakh per Test and INR 32 lakh per ODI from 1993 to 2001.

Then came a dramatic escalation, with Sahara India paying INR 3.34 crore per international match from 2002 to 2013.  Subsequently, Oppo Mobiles bid INR 1,079 crore for a five year deal in 2017, paying approximately INR 4.61 crore per bilateral match. Byju's inherited this contract in 2019 at the same valuation, and Dream11 followed in 2023 at a relatively modest INR 358 crore for three years. 

What is striking about this timeline is not just the escalating valuations but the troubled trajectories. Sahara collapsed under regulatory scrutiny. Oppo exited midway citing unsustainable costs. Byju's faced insolvency proceedings over unpaid dues. Dream11 was forced out by legislation. This pattern suggests a deeper issue than simple bad luck.  

The companies willing to pay premium rates for cricket association over the past decade have disproportionately operated in high growth, high risk sectors subject to regulatory uncertainty or aggressive cash burn strategies. . 

The Real Money Gaming Vacuum and What Fills It 

The immediate impact of the RMG ban was substantial. According to a D&P Advisory report, India's regulatory clampdown wiped off an estimated INR 3,500 to 4,000 crore in yearly sponsorship and media revenue. Yet the market did not collapse. Instead, it recalibrated.  

Traditional brands that had been priced out or strategically avoided jersey sponsorships during the RMG boom suddenly found the market accessible again. Top advertisers under the ecommerce gaming category in IPL were Dream11, My11Circle, Zupee and Winzo Games, demonstrating just how deeply embedded these brands had become in cricket's commercial ecosystem. 

The sudden departure of these high spending sponsors created a vacuum that initially worried industry observers. The IPL ecosystem value decreased from INR 92,500 crore in 2023 to INR 89,500 crore in 2024 and INR 87,000 crore in 2025, marking the first decline in its history. However, this decline proved to be temporary as traditional brands quickly stepped in to fill the gap.  

The Apollo Tyres deal offers an instructive case study in how traditional brands approach cricket differently. The BCCI set target rates of Rs 3.5 crore per bilateral match and Rs 1.5 crore for ICC fixtures, representing increases from Dream11's previous rates. Apollo agreed to these terms not for immediate user acquisition but for sustained brand positioning.  

For a B2B and B2C player in the automotive component space, cricket offers mass market visibility that cannot be replicated through trade channels or sector-specific advertising. This category has long understood sport's power—MRF's cricket associations in India are legendary, CEAT leverages top cricketers, JK Tyre dominates racing sponsorships globally. The calculus is fundamentally different from an app-based platform chasing quarterly download targets.  

The Apollo deal for the men's and women's national teams also represents the first time a manufacturing brand has secured equal jersey presence across both teams, setting a new benchmark for the category's sporting investments. 

This philosophical difference extends across categories now entering or re-entering cricket sponsorships. The Women's Premier League provides an early indicator of the shift. For 2026 and 2027, the BCCI onboarded ChatGPT, Kingfisher Packaged Drinking Water, CEAT, and Bisleri as sponsors in deals worth Rs 48 crore, alongside existing title partner Tata Group.  

The Next Commercial Cycle 

Looking toward the 2026 to 2028 period and beyond, several factors suggest cricket's commercial landscape will look markedly different from the 2019 to 2023 RMG dominated era. The immediate opportunity lies with categories that have historically underinvested in premium cricket properties relative to their market presence.  

FMCG conglomerates like Procter & Gamble and Nestle maintain steady but not spectacular cricket investments through broadcast advertising and lower tier sponsorships. With jersey and premier inventory now accessible at rates comparable to what they might have paid in the RMG era, expect more aggressive moves from consumer goods giants. 

The IPL presents the most interesting test case. Tata Group continues as title sponsor with a deal worth an estimated $60.2 million per year through 2028, providing stability at the top tier. But franchise level and inventory sponsorships across the league ecosystem have historically depended heavily on RMG spending.  

Traditional brands are making decisive moves. Unilver signed up for all Women's Cricket under the ICC umbrella. Asian Paints has entered cricket sponsorship, signaling broader appetite from established categories to claim space in the sport's commercial landscape. 

However, the transition carries risks that should not be understated. Fantasy sports firms together poured more than Rs 5,000 crore annually into marketing, with significant portions flowing into grassroots cricket, state associations, and domestic tournaments that operate below the IPL's commercial radar. Traditional brands are typically more conservative in their overall cricket spending and more selective about where they deploy resources.  

The result could be a cricket ecosystem that looks healthier at the premium tier with stable jersey sponsors and title partnerships but faces funding gaps at the developmental level where RMG money had been quietly propping up infrastructure. 

Whether this transition ultimately strengthens or constrains cricket's commercial potential will depend largely on how many traditional brands are willing to step up with Apollo style commitments rather than simply applauding from the sidelines.  

The tire tracks are there. The question is who else will follow them into territory that, until very recently, seemed dominated by an entirely different species of sponsor. 

To know more, reach out to us at Zupotsu.

Zupotsu is a martech platform on a mission to ‘digitize’ sports marketing. Zupotsu enables the discovery, engagement, and evaluation (the ‘DEE’ framework) for every sports and esports marketing asset. Please sign up at www.zupotsu.com. Follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram. Reach out at ‘marketing@zupotsu.com’ for any queries.