The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the richest cricket board in the world. They have received a lot of this money from sponsorships and media rights. But the same thing can’t be said for the companies sponsoring the Indian cricket team’s jersey.
Over the last two decades, there have been five jersey sponsors. These five companies have been the giants of their respective industries. But coincidentally, all of these five companies have suffered the same fate. Unfortunately, those five companies, have faced humungous losses, bankruptcy and jail time for the owners in some cases.
The latest to follow suit is the current jersey sponsor of the Indian cricket team, Dream 11. Dream 11 is a giant in the Indian fantasy gaming industry. After the new tax regulations by the Indian government, Dream 11 received a notice of tax evasion. The notice was sent for a whopping amount of ₹40,000 crores. Here is a look at the other four jersey sponsors and what happened to them.
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Sahara
Sahara has a very deep and rich history with Indian cricket. Sahara started their journey of sponsoring the Indian jersey in 2001 and stayed on the chest of Indian players for a whopping 12 years. They were the jersey sponsors when India won the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in 2007. They were also the sponsors when India won the Cricket World Cup in 2011 as well. Sahara lost its sponsorship in 2013 amidst the infamous Sahara scam.
Sahara scam
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) sent Sahara India Pariwar’s chief, Subrata Roy a notice stopping them from raising money from the public as they had previously raised thousands of crores using convertible debentures. After a court battle lasting almost two years, the Supreme Court asked Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Ltd. and the Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Ltd. to refund over ₹24,400 crores to its investors. After Subrata Roy failed to appear before the Supreme Court in 2014, he was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police. Subrata along with two other directors of Sahara was sent to the Tihar Jail. He was later released on parole in 2016.
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Star
Star replaced Sahara on the chest of the Indian jersey. Star was the sponsor for four years. Star during their time being the sponsor of the Indian jersey did not face much. On the other hand, they hand, they had invested nearly a billion dollars including media rights according to Star India Chairman and CEO, Uday Shankar.
Star loses grip over cricket
In 2017, when Star’s sponsorship ended with the Indian jersey they still occupied the media rights of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and most of international cricket. On television, they had Star Sports channel and Disney+Hotstar as its digital branch. For years they enjoyed the monopoly of Indian cricket until Reliance Jio entered the market. During the media rights auction for the IPL, JioCinema bagged the digital rights for the IPL from 2023 to 2027. JioCinema made streaming IPL free and witnessed monumental record-breaking viewership in most matches. JioCinema then even bagged the right for HBO shows in India which was previously held by Hotstar. Currently, Star has lost grip over all major media rights to Sports 18 and JioCinema.
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Oppo
Oppo was the jersey sponsor of India for just two years during 2017-2019. The Chinese phone brand was one of the leaders in the Android phone market in India.
Oppo boycotted
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After 20 Indian soldiers were killed during the attacks in Pulwama, there were calls to boycott Chinese products. Along with these Chinese products were big brands like AliExpress, Shein, Tik Tok and Oppo among others. BCCI decided to terminate their agreement with Oppo and removed them from the jerseys.
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Byju’s
Byju’s was the leader of the EdTech industry in India and just like Star was rarely fazed by competitors. The EdTech giant was the jersey sponsor after Oppo in 2019 till 2023. During the Covid pandemic, the EdTech business was facing a boom and Byju’s was also generating profits.
Byju’s decide to not renew the partnership with Indian cricket
When many netizens called out Byju’s employees and some of their top executives started to resign they ended up making no profits for some time. While eyeing profitability in 2024, Byju’s decided to not renew their jersey sponsorship with Indian Cricket.
SAHARA sponsored India : Sahara went bankrupt, & the owner went to Jail.
OPPO sponsored India : Oppo got boycotted by Indians, Declined.
STAR sponsored India : Lost all major rights to Jio and Sports 18.
BYJUS sponsored India : incurred huge losses, got exposed , had to lay… pic.twitter.com/ZBuKWwNdKb
— Roshan Rai (@RoshanKrRaii) September 26, 2023
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Dream 11
After a brief period where clothing brand Killer Jeans sponsored Indian jerseys Dream 11 got their names on the chest.
Many Indians noticed the pattern of jersey sponsors facing some or the other issue. Among these people was the Chairman of RPG Enterprises, Harsh Goenka.
SPONSORS OF INDIAN CRICKET TEAM:
SAHARA went bankrupt, owner went to Jail.
OPPO boycotted by Indians.
STAR lost all TV major rights, & for sale.
BYJUS incurred huge losses.
DREAM 11 now sponsoring India : 28% GST applied, huge tax evasion notice.
🙈🙈🙈
TEAM BHARAT KARO!
— Harsh Goenka (@hvgoenka) September 26, 2023
In his tweet, Goenka suggested changing the name to ‘Team Bharat’ to avoid such controversies.
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