Cricket is greater than only a sport in India — it’s a cultural phenomenon, a billion-eyeball spectacle, and a advertising goldmine. Naturally, manufacturers line as much as have their names splashed throughout Workforce India’s iconic blue jersey, hoping the affiliation will cement their legacy. But, through the years, the jersey appears to have carried not simply status, however a wierd curse. Many manufacturers that after proudly sponsored the Indian cricket group have both vanished, struggled financially, or light into irrelevance. This recurring sample has led followers and trade watchers to name it the “sponsorship jinx.”
The Lengthy Checklist of Casualties
Look again on the manufacturers as soon as synonymous with Indian cricket jerseys, and a sample emerges:
Sahara India: Dominated the jersey by the 2000s however ultimately collapsed underneath monetary scandals.
Sahara successor, Star India: A media powerhouse, now absorbed into Disney and shrinking in affect amid altering media consumption patterns.
OPPO: The Chinese language smartphone model withdrew its sponsorship sooner than anticipated, citing monetary pressure.
Byju’s: As soon as the world’s most valued edtech unicorn, now battling mounting losses, layoffs, and an existential disaster.
WPL and MPL Sports activities: The equipment producers confronted turbulence, with MPL (Cellular Premier League) lowering operations and restructuring.
It’s nearly eerie: being emblazoned on the Blue Brigade appears much less like a blessing and extra like a countdown timer.
Why Does This Preserve Taking place?
The Sky-Excessive Prices
Sponsorship offers with the BCCI don’t come low-cost. With bidding wars pushing valuations into the lots of of crores, many manufacturers stretch themselves skinny simply to safe the rights. Whereas the visibility is unparalleled, sustaining that monetary burden turns into difficult, particularly when market situations tighten.
Unsustainable Enterprise Fashions
A number of sponsors — edtech unicorns, new-age shopper tech corporations, or overleveraged conglomerates — had been already on shaky floor. The sponsorship, as a substitute of stabilizing them, usually uncovered simply how fragile their progress was. Byju’s, as an illustration, was burning money in a bid to seize world markets whereas spending crores on sponsorships.
Overexposure, Underreturn
Being on Workforce India’s jersey ensures visibility, however not essentially conversions. Followers cheer for Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, or Shubman Gill — not for the emblem on their chest. Not like FMCG giants like Coca-Cola or Nike, many of those sponsors lacked long-term model stickiness.
The Curse of Public Scrutiny
When your title is on India’s most beloved jersey, each stumble will get magnified. Any dip in service, product high quality, or company misstep invitations public ridicule amplified by cricket followers and media alike. What is perhaps a minor slip for an additional firm turns into a nationwide speaking level for a jersey sponsor.
Exceptions to the Rule
Not each sponsor has been buried underneath the jinx. Nike, regardless of ultimately shedding its India equipment deal, stays a world behemoth. Dream11, which sponsored the group in patches, continues to thrive in fantasy sports activities. However such examples are uncommon in comparison with the graveyard of manufacturers that after glittered throughout the blue shirt.
Is It Actually a Jinx?
The so-called curse is perhaps much less supernatural and extra about flawed technique. Firms usually see the Indian cricket jersey as a shortcut to credibility. However with out a strong core enterprise, no quantity of prime-time visibility can save them. The jersey doesn’t flip manufacturers to mud — it merely exposes their fragility underneath the brightest highlight in Indian sport.
