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.

Apparel Sponsorship History of IPL - The First Ten Years

This post will act as a supplement to the post I made earlier in May 2016. (Read it here!) I have made a better chart this time which you can see below.

Click for Enlarged Image

Everything about apparel sponsorships in the first nine seasons was explained in the article I have previously posted and I will be speaking only about the 10th season in this post. There were no major changes to the manufacturers' line up this year for the teams. RCB and MI continued their associations with Zeven and Performax respectively while Tyka reduced the number of teams it sponsored in the last season from 3 to 2 (KXIP and SRH) with GL signing a deal with Sasperil Greenlands (SG). DD also signed a new manufacturer - T10 Sports for making its kits.

Two teams did not have any official apparel sponsor in this season; KKR continued not to have a kitmaker while RPS did not continue with Seven, the brand owned by MS Dhoni.

Captains align behind the IPL-10 trophy and the Bats signed for MCC's Spirit Cricket Pledge at the Opening Ceremony

With a decade of IPL gone, new and exciting things await the fans from the 11th season taking place in 2018. I expect huge changes to take place in the next season with international players in the apparel industry making way once again into the IPL arena. With two suspended teams returning, it would be interesting to see what their brand-strategy would be for their return.

What changes in the branding and apparel would you like to see in the next season of IPL? Drop in your comments below!

Official Sponsors & Partners of RCB for 2017

The corporate backing of RCB for 2017 has been unveiled on the official website. Have a look below.

The 2017 batch of sponsors and partners for RCB.

Founding Partner: United Spirits Limited
Principal Partners: Gionee Smartphones, Lloyd Air Conditioners, Kingfisher Premium
Associate Partners: Jio Telecom, Karnataka Jungle Lodges & Resorts, Himalaya Men, Duroflex Mattresses, Gatorade, Wrogn, Zeven, Boost, 7UP, Tissot Watchers, Radio Mirchi, DNA Networks

Stands at M Chinnaswamy Stadium have been named after few of these brands and I had previously noted this in this post. I took a further step and predicted the RCB Jerseys for 2017 using the sponsors featured on stadium stands and illustrated it in my last post.

As per this official list updated on the official website, the brands that get their share of real estate on playing jerseys may include the following.

Belly: Gionee
Chest: Lloyd Air Conditioners
Back: Kingfisher
Leading Arm 1: Jio
Leading Arm 2: IPL Logo
Non-Leading Arm 1: Karnataka Jungle Lodges & Resorts
Non-Leading Arm 2: Duroflex Mattresses
Leading Leg: 7UP / Gatorade / Wrogn / Boost
Non-Leading Leg: Zeven
Headgear: Himalaya Men

Prediction on RCB's 2017 Jerseys!

Following my previous post on the new sponsors which were guessed based on the naming of stands at Chinnaswamy stadium, I now present my predictions on the RCB Jerseys for 2017. What's changed and what's retained? Read on.

Zeven is manufacturing the jerseys for the second year and the home-away system would continue. The system is likely to be adopted by the other teams this time. As noted previously, we might have Gionee Smartphones on the belly while Lloyd Air Conditioners would retain the chest area.

As usual, the IPL tournament logo will go on the leading arm. This season's logo is a commemorative logo made to celebrate a decade of IPL.

The 10th Year Anniversary Logo.

The possible new entrants Jio Telecom, Duroflex Mattresses and Karnataka Tourism's Jungle Lodges & Resorts branding might get their slots on arms along with the IPL logo. The back would remain unchanged, featuring the Kingfisher branding.

Check my predictions for home and away jerseys below:

The possible RCB home jersey for 2017.

The possible RCB away jersey for 2017.

A new episode in 'The Royal Attire' series will come up soon once the launch officially takes place before the start of the season. 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.

Who's in the RCB Brand House for IPL10?

The tickets for RCB's home matches went on sale a couple of days ago and the portal to book the tickets displays the map below. It is noticeable that the stands at Chinnaswamy Stadium have been named after brands which could be nothing but the RCB's sponsors' batch of 2017!

Layout of M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

As you've noticed, we have Gionee, the Chinese smartphone maker in house this time, probably going as a main sponsor on the jersey! The A Stand, P1 Annexe, P1 Stand, P2 Stand are named after Gionee. At this moment, I have no news about Gionee's disassociation with KKR.

We also have Jio, the telecom company that took the whole nation by storm. Jio appears on B Upper, B Lower and M2 Stand. Last year's association with LYF Smartphones+  appears to be replaced with Jio; the same might be making its way on the sleeves of RCB, MI and RPS jerseys.

We can also notice Duroflex Mattresses on M4 Stand and G Upper Stand, which probably might have replaced Britannia slot on the jersey.

Another interesting observation is the naming of G1 Stand Lower, G2 Stand Lower and M1 Stand after Karnataka Jungle Lodges. The Karnataka Tourism Department might be sponsoring RCB for the 2017 season, probably getting featured on the jersey as well. As there is no news on Tata Motors continuing as a sponsor, I pick the slot Tata Bolt and Tata Zest were previously featured on to get replaced with Jungle Lodges & Resorts.

Apart from these newcomers, the past brands that continue their association with RCB include Kingfisher (named on E Executive Lounge, P Corporate, C Upper and C Lower) which goes on the back of the jersey, Lloyd Air Conditioners (named on Pavilion P3, Pavilion Terrace and Fan Terrace N) which would featured on chest and Himalaya Men (named on D Corporate and M3 Stand) which would be seen on the headgear.

Zeven is manufacturing the apparel again as per the two-year contract and would get featured on the trouser on one side while the slot on the other side might be taken up by 7-UP for this year too.

I am expecting all these brands on which the stands have been named after to get their share of real estate on the jersey. Stay tuned for my final prediction and illustration of the jerseys!

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.

Video: The Evolution of RCB Jerseys from 2008 to 2016

Did you know that RCB has used 19 jerseys in the past 9 years? I have been writing about all the jerseys that the RCB has used since its launch. I have made a small video about the same for those who prefer watching to reading and here it is!

If you liked watching this video and if this helped you go nostalgic, subscribe my youtube channel for exclusive updates!

I am participating in the RCB's Bold Crew contest and I request you to help me win it! Only thing you have to do is VOTE! Just create an account and vote me!

Here is the link: https://www.royalchallengers.com/boldarmy/20577

The Apparel Sponsorship History of IPL

The IPL has been a huge hit since its initiation. It has never failed to bring joy on the faces of the investors. The official apparel partners are one such important entities that have been striving to establish an identity and make the team we support look great. This post explains the timeline and association of these kitmakers with the teams of IPL all along. Below is the table which demonstrates the sponsorship history for the kit manufacturers.

Click for Enlarged Image

The Indian Premier League was launched in 2008 and it didn’t lag in attracting the giants of the sportswear industry to sponsor its franchises. The first incarnation of the league saw three of the big players in the sports world sponsoring seven IPL teams. Reebok bagged the rights for four teams - RCB, CSK, KKR and RR while Adidas came up to manufacture kits for MI and DD. Adidas sponsored the two teams for which the captains, Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag were their brand ambassadors. Nike was the kit manufacturer for DC. This was Nike’s first and last relationship with the IPL. Provogue, a not-so-popular fashion brand, made kits for KXIP in 2008.

Captains after signing the MCC-SOC Pledge during the launch of Season 3 of DLF IPL in 2010.

While the sponsorship deals with RCB, CSK, MI, DD and KKR were for five years, the other three teams let go of their respective sponsors the next season. 2009 was the year that welcomed Puma into IPL with its association with RR and DC both, signing a five-year deal. Reebok terminated its RR deal which lasted for one year and replaced it with a new four-year deal with KXIP. The number of teams that Reebok sponsored was still 4 in 2009 including RCB, CSK, KKR and KXIP.

MCC Spirit of Cricket event during the launch of Season 4 of DLF IPL (2011)

Nothing changed for next two seasons. In 2011, two new teams were a part of IPL – PWI and KTK. While Adidas extended its IPL presence by bagging the deal for two years with PWI, Lotto made a deal with KTK. This lasted for a single season as KTK didn’t play further.

Captains during the MCC Spirit of Cricket Pledge at the Opening Ceremony of DLF IPL Season 5 (2012)

The association of Reebok with RCB, CSK and KKR and that of Adidas with MI and DD lasted for 5 years, ending in 2012. Adidas’ PWI 2-year deal also ended in 2012. The Reebok sponsorship was extended by and year for KKR and by two years for RCB and CSK.  Adidas also renewed the deal for two more years to MI and for one year to DD. Puma’s 5-year deal was fulfilled in 2013, however, because DC was defunct in 2013, the replacing team – SRH was awarded the last-year Puma deal. A new player - TK Sports, made its way into IPL by sponsoring KXIP and PWI the same year.

The Opening Ceremony of Season 6 of Pepsi IPL in 2013

The 2014 season of IPL witnessed three out of eight teams to play without an official kitmaker. DD, KKR and RR became sponsor-less for the season while Reebok’s RCB, CSK association and Adidas’ MI association officially ended. TK sports continued to make kits for KXIP, also bagged deal with SRH the same year in place of the defunct PWI.

Captains pose during the Pepsi IPL Season 7 Opening Ceremony in 2014

The next season of 2015 saw as much as three new sponsors for the franchises. Adidas returned to IPL by sponsoring RCB and Spartan jumped into IPL by sponsoring CSK. Both Adidas and Spartan, this time sponsored the teams which had their ambassadors – Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni as captains. The home brand of Reliance – Performax sponsored MI from 2015. Long-time sports goods manufacturer – Shiv-Naresh made a deal with DD. TK Sports launched ‘Tyka’ brand and continued to sponsor KXIP and SRH.

Captains assemble before the 2015 Pepsi IPL (Season 8) Trophy and the Bat for signing the MCC Spirit of Cricket Pledge

Till 2015, at least one international brand existed in the manufacturer line-up for the IPL teams. 2016 is the year that saw the domestic domination. No teams had a deal with any international apparel manufacturer. Two new entrants for this season were Zeven and Seven. Zeven is a new brand launched by Mahesh Bhupathi and Ravi Shastri which sponsors RCB while Seven is Dhoni’s own brand backed by Spartan that sponsors RPS, one of the two new teams. Tyka extended its presence by sponsoring the new team GL.

The captains, Rajiv Shukla (then Chairman of IPL) and Anurag Thakur (then President of BCCI)
assemble before the Vivo IPL Season 9 trophy in 2016

Why are the globally reputed manufacturers backing off from IPL? What is the reason for this domestic dominance in IPL? Is this an evidence that ‘Make in India’ is working here too? Drop in your comments below!

Huawei out, Nags returns and a #Bold Prediction!

Tomorrow is the official launch of the RCB Jersey for 2016. However, I am here to provide a final update on the prediction. It appears that Honor or Huawei may have discontinued their sponsorship deal and might not get featured on the jerseys. The footer on the RCB website which displays the sponsors do not show Huawei. Hero Cycles is listed next to the USL which means, they are the principal sponsors. It also makes me think they have reserved their spot on the jerseys.

Meanwhile, Mr.Nags has come back to RCB camp and here is the first video if the 'Insider' series for 2016.

The video blurs out the previous sponsors, thus clearing that they aren't being a part of the RCB family this year. Notice the blurring of Huawei on Nags' jersey.

Also, in this tweet by RCB, the sponsor logos on the jersey have been photoshopped and removed.

.@NagsMr is back - bolder & hell-bent on befriending the new Challengers who’ve joined us for #IPL9! #PlayBold pic.twitter.com/JMQpBdqSp9

— Royal Challengers (@RCBTweets) April 5, 2016

The Final Prediction
This is my final prediction before the official launch of the jersey. There is a possibility that Kingfisher would still be at the back and 'Acer Computers' might take the place of 'LYF Smartphones' on the sleeves as seen below. Most of the other things might be same.

A bold prediction!

What do you think? Would my design be close to the official one? Will I be surprised? I'll reveal it within next 24 hours! Stay tuned!

The fresh new batch of sponsors for 2016

The new team of sponsors have been listed on the official website of RCB and they are as follows.

The 2016 batch of sponsors and partners for RCB.

Now, this makes me predict one of the sleeve and back sponsor that I couldn't in my previous post.

I guess 'Hero Cycles' or 'Kingfisher' would get the back slot. The one of the three sleeve advertisement would be 'LYF Smartphone' or Hero, if it doesn't get the back. 'Acer' is also a contender for the sleeve spot.

The trousers would get '7UP' and the caps and helmets might get 'Pimple', 'Ola' or 'Zeven'.

Final Predictions on RCB's 2016 Uniforms

This is a final attempt at predicting the RCB uniform for 2016 season of the Vivo Indian Premier League. I though of giving a go at designing this after my previous post where I have talked about the jersey icons featured on the official fantasy league of IPL. These predictions are based on the icons as well as the previously released promotional images for advertisements. 

The RCB Jersey Icon

The IPL logo might be scored with a thick and smooth white outline. This is being followed on the jerseys of other teams revealed so far. The part of advertisement space above the tournament logo on the sleeve would be taken by the 'Tata Motors Zest'. The other sleeve would have 'Britannia' as one of the two advertisements and the other one is still unknown. The chest will have 'Lloyd Air Conditioners' on the right and the newly unveiled RCB logo on the left. The belly real estate would be donned by Huawei's mobile phone brand 'Honor'. There is nothing known about sponsor on the back, a possibility exists for 'Kingfisher Packaged Drinking Water' 

I would like to see the kit without blue, however, the jersey icon on the fantasy league website shows blue. My prediction as per this icon would be something like what's below.

Red & Blue Version

If I render my suggestion into what's designed above, the output is something like the image below. I feel black would fit into RCB's current colour scheme followed in the logo.

Red & Black Version

These are only my predictions and may or may not match with the official version of the jersey scheduled to be released in a couple of days. I shall be covering the jersey launch in detail. Stay tuned!

Exclusive: RCB 2016 Jersey is almost here!

The IPL Fantasy Championship page uses these jersey icons for players as of now and all these look very similar to the official designs.

RCB, MI, KKR, RPS, GL, KXIP, SRH, DD

If this can be believed, the blue isn't going out of RCB's strips as I guessed earlier in this post. There is a possibility of Adidas' three stripes in gold on the blue part seen on shoulders. Stay tuned for a couple of days so that I can post another article with the same title, removing the word 'almost'!

Exclusive: Britannia to continue sponsoring RCB for 2016

In a tweet, Britannia has revealed its brand, 'Britannia 5050' to be the Official Snack Partner of the RCB for 2016.

.@RCBTweets's #5050Fusion of @imVkohli, @henrygayle & @qmanbad will go head on tonight. Ready for #IndvsWI ? pic.twitter.com/8yRbRFNLJN

— Britannia5050 (@Britannia5050) March 31, 2016

As the image shows a placeholder jersey for RCB, the sponsors confirmed to appear are Britannia, Tata Zest, Lloyd Electronics and as predicted by me in a previous post on this blog, Huawei Honor.

The official lauch for 2016 jersey would take place in the first week of April. If things go as I wish, I could be giving you a live and detailed updates about the new jersey. Stay tuned!

Exclusive: Lloyd and Tata Zest are the new Associate Sponsors for RCB

The image you see below is taken from a twitter post from the official account of Lloyd Electronics. Through this, they have announced themselves as the associate sponsors for RCB this season.

If the image is examined, it reveals several other things. The placement of the new RCB logo, Lloyd logo on chest. Huawei's Honor brand, as expected by me on the belly. Also found is the new 'Tata Motos Zest' logo on the sleeve. This means Tata Motors continue to be associate sponsors through the new 'Zest' replacing the previous years' 'Bolt'. The jersey design is old and being used as a placeholder.

Here is the tweet:

Lloyd is teaming with RCB this IPL season. So #PlayBoldBeHappy @RCBTweets #IPL2016 pic.twitter.com/EINiicAcIU

— My Lloyd (@MyLloydIndia) March 31, 2016

The RCB Jersey Prediction for 2016

As an RCB enthusiast, I take an opportunity to predict the RCB jersey for the 2016 season. Adidas would be manufacturing kits for RCB again in 2016. The signature 'three-stripes' was not present on the 2015 jerseys, however, I expect this to be a part of the design language implemented for 2016. I hope the collars would be non-traditional and look as below. For some reason, I expect Huawei's 'Honor' brand to be advertised on the belly this year. There might be new sponsors this time too.

The design you see below (Version 1) was the initial design I had made before RCB unveied their new logo and VIVO was unveiled as the title sponsor for IPL. I redesigned this after these two announcements were made. I somehwat believe that RCB is ditching out the blue colour from its jersey. I made the blue part black in my redsign which you see below (Version 2).

Version 1

Version 2

What do you think? Will the official jersey be similar to this prediction? Only time will tell!

Exclusive: RCB's new logo is here!

Brand Cricket Blog broke the exclusive news of RCB changing the logo for this season of the VIVO Indian Premier League a while ago. Today, I present you the new RCB logo being used from 2016. Here it is!

The new RCB logo!

So much has changed in the logo, with the colour blue completely ditched out of the theme. The lion is bigger and there are no gradients anywhere in the logo. RC emblem is changed, has a lighter gold shade while the main ring and the lion have darker gold. The colour black dominates over red. I feel usage of gradients could have bettered the logo. Read more about the logo analysis here.

Exclusive: RCB changes logo for IPL 2016.

Headed to the official IPL website recently? If not, go there now! If you are an RCB fan and a brand enthusiast, you'll see something changed in the RCB's team page on the website. It is, the new logo, not available anywhere officially, making an appearance on the IPL website. So this is official and RCB has changed the logo for the 2016 season.

Here is the link to the RCB page on the IPL website: Click!

The logo you see above is the maximum resolution image available as of now. The new logo majorly resembles the previous season's social media campaign '#PlayBold' promotional images and the newly rebranded 'Royal Challenge Whiskey' logo. 

The rebranded Royal Challenge Whiskey

The major change is the absence of the crown and the blue shield which contained the lion inside. The lion is now released from the shield, has become massive, outsizes the 'RC' emblem on the logo. The text "Royal Challengers Bangalore" is now a single line which was split in the old logo. The 'RC' logo is slightly changed too, matching the rebranded 'Royal Challenge' emblem on the liquor brand. 

I feel the thick black outer circle surrounding the RC emblem was not necessary. However, this might be a sign of total integration of the team logo with the liquor brand. Another important thing to notice is that the logo has got rid of any traces of the colour blue. This might also be an indication that the team jersey is getting rid of blue too. 

I predict that RCB will be adopting a home and away system and sporting two different jerseys along with the 'Game for Green' jersey. We might be seeing the red-gold-black jerseys for RCB this time! Only the time will tell!