Apparel Sponsorship History of IPL - From 2008 To 2018

Here is an update for the chart I posted previously, here.

Click for Enlarged Image

The 11th season of IPL that concluded recently saw no newcomers to the league of kitmakers. Zeven and Performax continued to manufacture apparel for RCB and MI respectively while T10 Sports added KXIP to their bouquet this year continuing their association with DD from last season.

Tyka, while continuing with SRH, signed a new deal with RR for manufacturing their kits. KKR still does not have an official jersey maker and Dhoni owned Seven brand now sponsors CSK.

Captains pose behind the IPL-11 trophy during a photoshoot 

The current league of kit manufacturers hasn't changed much from the previous season. Major international sportswear companies are still a no-show. Though this has enabled the Indian brands to cash in the opportunities in the cash-rich league, they have failed to capture the market because of greed. The jerseys and fanwear that are made available to the public for purchase are extremely overpriced for the quality being offered.

The global biggies like Adidas, Puma, Nike and New Balance would only be interested in IPL if the clothing regulations are reviewed. No big company would be willing to sponsor these teams unless they get their rightful slot on the jerseys that would promise visibility and recognition.

Prediction on RCB's 2018 Jerseys!

As I do every season, here is my prediction on the RCB jerseys for the 2018 season of the Indian Premier League! This prediction bases my previous post on the RCB's Brand House which itself is based on the branding for the stands taken from the stadium layout sourced from the ticketing portal.

As stated earlier, Zeven continues its association as the kit manufacturer for RCB and it is likely that the design from the last two seasons will remain unchanged. The illustration below depicts what the jerseys might look like in my opinion.

Potential RCB Jerseys for 2018

The front branding would either be Eros Now or HP. One of the two will have the spot on the right chest. There is also a possibility of these two brands switching places for home and away jerseys as shown in the illustration above.

According to my prediction, the following will be the slot-share for the associated brands.

• Front - Eros Now / HP
• Right Chest - Eros Now / HP
• Leading Arm Upper - Jio Telecom
• Non-Leading Arm Upper - Domino's Pizza
• Non-Leading Arm Lower - Duroflex Mattresses
• Back - Duraguard Cement

The RCB logo will be on the left chest; the VIVO IPL logo will have its mandatory lower leading arm spot. Apart from these, Zeven and 7UP will be seen on leading limb and non-leading limb of the trousers respectively.

'The Royal Attire' series will resume after the jerseys are officially unveiled! Stay tuned!

Disclaimer: None of these sponsors have been announced officially by the RCB. Please note that the article relies majorly on my guesswork and possibilities exist that would render all the above information false.

The RCB Brand House of 2018!

The tickets for RCB's home matches are on sale from this moment. (Click here and book right away!) However, the motto of this blog is not to serve as an advertising media and here I slip to the focus of the blog! As usual, the layout of the stands in the M Chinnaswamy Stadium is displayed in the ticketing portal and the stands have been named after the sponsors of RCB for this season. Have a look below.

Layout of M Chinnaswamy Stadium

The followings brands are associated with the stands in Chinnaswamy.
A Stand - Eros Now
B Upper - Jio
B Lower - Jio
C Upper (Grand Terrace) - HP
C Lower - Duraguard
D Corporate - Wrogn
E Executive - Duraguard
G Upper - Duroflex
G Lower - Dominos
M1 Stand - Dominos
M2 Stand - Jio
M3 Stand - Wrogn
M4 Stand - Duroflex
N Stand - Eros Now
P1 Annex - Eros Now
P1 Stand - Eros Now
P2 - Eros Now
P3 - Eros Now
P Terrace - HP
P Corporate - Duraguard

While Jio and Duroflex Mattresses have remained to be associated with RCB as well as the stands they are named after, there are a lot of newcomers to the house. With Eros Now and HP branding linked with the majority of the stands in the stadium, it is highly likely that one of these will end up as a principal sponsor and takes the prominent real estate on the front of RCB jersey with another going to the chest spot. Dominos is another new entrant which will most likely decorate the upper spot on the non-leading arm.

Duraguard Cement branding will don the back of RCB jerseys this season.

As reported earlier, Duraguard Cement will don the back of RCB jerseys and Wrogn will be seen on the players' headgear once again. Zeven continues its association with RCB as the official kit-maker. 7UP is also likely to remain in the RCB Brand House for 2018.

Stay tuned for BrandCricket Prediction for 2018 RCB jersey!

Disclaimer: None of these sponsors have been announced officially by the RCB. Please note that the article relies majorly on my guesswork and possibilities exist that would render all the above information false.

Daredevils unveil new kits for 2018

Delhi Daredevils have unveiled their new strips for the new season which actually lacks anything that's 'new'. The quality of the design has been declining season to season for DD and this year is not an exception. Starting the IPL in 2008 with one of the best attires, the GMR owned team has gradually minimized all its efforts on the visual aspects of the playing clothing leading to this season's (so far) pathetic jersey as seen below.

Players pose with the 2018 Delhi Daredevils jersey

Sports goods manufacturer Shiv-Naresh has probably ended its deal with DD and the current manufacturer for the playing kits is unknown as of now. The design is repetitive with no changes to the base of past few years' jerseys. The collar part is changed, making the jersey look poorer.

'Daikin' has continued its association with DD and their logo dons the central part of the jersey. 'Jio Telecom' also continues to sponsor DD in some capacity and the logo which is now changed to blue from last year's red, rests on the upper leading arm instead of last year's right chest while the IPL logo sits on the lower leading arm. The franchise owner GMR Holdings have decided to show off their own logo on the lower non-leading arm while the upper slot on the non-leading arm remains empty as of now.

New sponsor 'Suzuki Gixxer' has been awkwardly placed on the right chest while the newly simplified 'DD' logo of the team is placed on the usual left part of the chest. Another new sponsor, Cargill India's brand 'Nature Fresh' is prominently displayed on the back of the jersey.

Gautam Gambhir, the newly announced skipper of DD

Brand Cricket Verdict: The jersey could have been loads better in my opinion. Sticking to the same base design (though not being liked by many) is not a good approach. The oldest black and red jersey by Adidas still remains my favorite for DD. Cricket teams should basically root on symmetric jersey designs rather than asymmetric ones like this one.

Brand Cricket Jersey Score: 4 on 10

Stay tuned for more updates on all IPL jerseys for 2018.

Update (13th March 2018): The kit manufacturer is learnt to be T10 sports, the same company that made kits for Delhi Daredevils last year. Here is a tweet from the manufacturer.

Here comes the captain .! Back to home@DelhiDaredevils is all set to give his best in IPL 2018, and we Delhiites are the backbone of Daredevils Team.

Be the twelfth man of Delhi Daredevils team, Wear Official Player jersey with Your name, Available only at @t10sports #ipl2018 https://t.co/uA29IoiLCt

— T10 Sports (@t10sports) March 12, 2018

CSK's possible 'new' attire for 2018

CSK has returned to the IPL after two years and has 'retained'... yes, you guessed it! The jersey design. The most consistent element in the IPL so far are the batsman insignia in the IPL logo and CSK's jersey design. The yellow jersey which has been the same from since forever has returned with some new sponsors with the main one being 'The Muthoot Group' which has replaced Aircel's 8-year-long spot on the belly. The mock-up for the 'new' jersey has been posted by the twitter handle of 'Equitas Small Finance Bank' and it looks like this.

The above mock-up might not be completely true to what the final jersey would be; we might see a change in the design (which we hope every season) depending on what the CSK management decides.

With reference to this jersey shown, the following are the sponsors that claim the real estate on the clothing:

• The Muthoot Group (Belly)
• Gulf Oil (Right Chest)
• Equitas Small Finance Bank (Upper Leading Arm)
• Hyderabad Industries Limited (Upper Non-Leading Arm)
• Nippon Paints (Lower Non-Leading Arm)
• India Cements (Back)

If my assumption is correct, Spartan will be back to continue its association with CSK for manufacturing the official kits. M S Dhoni's own 'Seven' brand (which is supported by Spartan) might be labelled as the official kit supplier for CSK in 2018. 

Stay tuned for more updates on all IPL jerseys for 2018. Exclusive info on RCB jersey to follow soon!

Original Tweet:

Get ready to whistle! The fun has started again, this time with our very own @ChennaiIPL . We are happy to announce that Equitas Small Finance Bank is now the proud sponsor of Chennai Super Kings! Stay tuned to our page for more updates. #BackWithTheBank #Equitas #CSK pic.twitter.com/JtuZMHpwBI

— EquitasBank (@EquitasBank) January 26, 2018