Apollo Tyres has become the India jersey sponsor, winning the race with a stunning bid of INR 579 crore. The sponsorship deal spans three years and covers 121 bilateral games and 21 ICC matches.
Apollo Tyres, who have business run over 100 countries, won the bid against Canva and JK Cements, who had placed bids of INR 544 crore and INR 477 crore respectively.
Apollo Tyres will pay INR 4.77 crore per game, surpassing Dream11’s earlier contribution of INR 4 crore, although there could be slight variations given the value difference between bilateral and ICC matches.
As per the reports, the base price set by the BCCI was INR 3.5 crore for bilateral games and INR 1.5 crore for the World Cup matches.
The BCCI has to change tenders for a new sponsor after Dream11 deal was closed by a government order banning all real money gaming companines.
With the government order coming days ahead of the Asia Cup 2025, India team went on to play continental event without a jersey sponsor.
The new sponsors deal begins with two-test home series against West Indies starting on October 02, followed by a white-ball series in India tour of Australia 2025.
However, the new sponsor’s logo will be on display during the three-match 50-over between India A and Australia.
The BCCI is understood to have informed the selectors to pick the India A one-day squad earlier so that jerseys can get ready for the games in Kanpur starting on September 30.
However, it remains unclear whether the women’s team will feature the new sponsor on their jerseys for the upcoming Women’s World Cup 2025, scheduled to be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka from September 30.
The previous sponsors Dream11 of the Indian cricket team and the IPL, Dream11 and My11 circle together brought in nearly INR 1000 crore for the BCCI.
The ban on real money gaming has impacted the revenue streams of all fantasy gaming companies.
“…no person shall offer any, aid, abet, induce, indulge, engage in offering online money gaming services nor shall involve in any advertisement which directly or indirectly promotes any person to play any online money game,” the act states.
The India men’s cricket team made a strong start to their Asia Cup campaign with back to back wins against UAE and Pakistan, and will be facing Oman in their final group stage games on September 19 at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Au Dhabi.
