Mumbai Indians crosses Rs 100 crore in sponsorships

MUMBAI: Mukesh Ambani-owned Mumbai Indians, the most successful team of the Indian premier League (IPL), has now become the first Indian sports franchise to clock sponsorship revenues of Rs 100 crore. The four-time winner franchise has signed two new sponsors – Marriott Bonvoy and Astral Pipes – to touch the new milestone.

A Mumbai Indians spokesperson confirmed of signing a three-year deal with Marriott Bonvoy, the loyalty programme for all the 30 hotel brands of Marriott International, while declining to share the financial details. Sources in Reliance, however, said that the three-year deal is worth Rs 30 crore and as part of the deal, the Marriott Bonvoy logo will appear on right chest on players’ jersey.

Marriott Bonvoy has been associated with global sporting teams and brands including Manchester United, Formula One, Bayern Munich, NFL and the NBA. It is for the first time that the brand has signed a sponsorship deal with an India sports franchise. Astral Pipes, however, will occupy space on the non-leading arm of the players.



Last year, MI had signed Samsung as its lead sponsor for three years in a deal valued at Rs 75 crore.

“My sense is that Mumbai Indians command a premium because of multiple factors – they have won four titles, it’s a high profile team owned by India’s biggest industrialist. They enjoy the limelight being in the financial capital.

So brands also piggy back on that,” said R Ramakrishnan, co-founder at sports marketing firm Baseline Ventures. As per Duff & Phelps’ latest IPL brand valuation report, MI, with a brand value of Rs 809 crore (in 2009), continued to top the charts for the fourth season in a row owing to its consistent on-field performance.

Among other sponsors, MI has Colors (back), Reliance Jio (lead arm), Usha International (lead helmet), Sharp (back helmet), Burger King and William Lawson (trouser). The team’s official partners include Dream11, Kingfisher, Boat, Taiwan Excellence etc, Radio City, Fever FM, Reliance Foundation’s Education and Sport for All (ESA), BookMyShow, Performex and DNA Networks.

MI’s squad is lead by Captain Rohit Sharma, and also include key players like all-rounder Hardik Pandya, and pacer Jaspreet Bumrah. The team will play its first match on March 29th at home ground Wankhede Stadium against last year’s finalists Chennai Super Kings.