Team India Jersey Sponsorship: Call it a coincidence or a bad omen that while the sports organizations and players associated with cricket become richer, the condition of the jersey sponsors in the same game becomes poorer. This proves to be true to a great extent in the case of the jersey of the Indian cricket team.
I don’t know what the trick is that whenever many companies signed an agreement to become the jersey sponsor of the Indian cricket team, they had to face a lot of problems in the future. Even the integrity of many companies is at stake. Among these, the names of Sahara, Byju’s, Dream11, Oppo are prominent. If we look at the jersey sponsors of the last twenty-five years, this appears to be 89% true. That is why the jersey sponsorship of the Indian cricket team has come to be called ‘Jersey Jinx’.
story of sahara
From 2001 to 2013, almost 12 years, the ‘Sahara’ logo remained on the jersey of Team India. This has been the longest-term sponsorship so far. During that time, Sahara India invested heavily in sponsorship of Team India and also gained extensive brand exposure. At that time, under the leadership of Subrata Roy, Sahara India’s dominance extended to real estate, financial services, media, hospitality, education etc. But gradually Sahara India got embroiled in controversies and legal battles, with SEBI and other regulatory agencies making huge claims on Sahara.
Subrata Roy himself remained in jail for a long time. Today the situation is such that even Sahara’s premises located at Gomtinagar in Lucknow has been snatched away. By the way, Sahara sponsored not only Indian cricket but also hockey and other sports, which gave it brand recognition. But this identity failed to save him from the financial quagmire.
ITC journey
ITC Limited became the sponsor of Indian cricket from 1993 to 2001. The Indian cricket team was under the ITC brand when there was no ban on advertising of smoking products. Apart from tobacco, ITC’s business extends to FMCG, paper, packaging, agriculture and hotels.
Team India’s sponsorship strengthened the company’s brand image, particularly in increasing consumer awareness. But it is difficult to say whether this sponsorship has directly increased ITC’s earnings or profits significantly. The company was strong before and has remained strong even after the sponsorship ended, but this identity has failed to save it from the financial quagmire.
star of star india
After ITC, Star India took over the responsibility of sponsorship of Team India. Star India was the sponsor of Team India’s jersey from January 2014 to March 2017. Star India is now active in collaboration with Jio. But Star India’s star may not shine as bright now as it used to.
The company has registered a net loss of Rs 12,548 crore. Star’s operating revenue declined by nearly 6 per cent in FY24. While Star India was the jersey sponsor, it gained a wider presence in sports and media branding but huge financial losses raised questions about the sustainability of its media business. The situation of Star India is challenging at present. Amid huge losses and operating pressures, the company is trying to survive on the strength of its liquidity position.
oppo story
From May 2017 to August 2019, mobile manufacturer Oppo retained the jersey sponsorship of Team India. When they took the sponsorship, Oppo had a good hold on the smartphone market in India but later, India-China tensions, tax notices and competition put Oppo’s operations under pressure.
The situation became such that Oppo did not complete the sponsorship period and left the sponsorship midway. Sponsorship may have brought some benefits to Oppo in the past but the company leaving the sponsorship tells its own story.
Byju’s crisis
After Oppo, education brand ‘Byju’ took over the jersey sponsorship of Team India from 2019 to 2023. During this period, Byju’s tried to establish its identity as a digital learning brand. Earlier, it was India’s much talked about edtech unicorn, whose valuation was expected to reach about $22 billion by 2022 but its financial problems started when the operating costs and debt burden increased too much.
Civil settlement process started against him in 2024. The value of the company dropped to almost zero. Founder Byju Raveendran has said on several occasions that the company has become ‘worthless’. The failure to maintain financial stability during the Jersey sponsorship period brought it into major trouble. The company suffered huge losses due to financial crisis and bankruptcy.
Dream 11 band plays
After Byju’s, Dream 11 won the jersey sponsorship of the Indian cricket team in 2023 with a deal worth approximately Rs 358 crore. Even before this sponsorship could come to fruition, in 2025, the Government of India made the online gaming law, due to which the band of ‘Dream 11’ and many online gaming apps like it started playing.
Dream 11’s core business model came under threat. It had to face many restrictions due to which the business collapsed and there was no point in continuing the sponsorship.
Apollo Tire
After Dream 11 pulled out of sponsorship, Apollo Tires has been chosen as the new sponsor. The agreement was announced in September 2025 and is for March 2028. This three-year agreement is said to be worth Rs 579 crore.
Recent financial reports show that Apollo’s revenue in FY25 stood at Rs 26,123 crore, with operating profit around Rs 8,370 crore and net profit around Rs 1,850 crore. The company’s shares also saw a rise of up to 2 percent following the news of the sponsorship, indicating that investors viewed the relationship as positive. For now, Apollo has said that this sponsorship deal will be different from “Jersey Jinx” as the company is already in a strong position in manufacturing. So far, Apollo’s financial position is relatively strong. The sponsorship has given the brand a higher profile, and investors have seen this as a positive sign. But it remains to be seen whether they are able to reap long-term benefits from this big investment or not.
The bad omen regarding the sponsorship of the Indian cricket team is a coincidence. It would not be right to call it a bad omen or a trick because neither cricket nor the jersey had any role in the companies that suffered losses. Whatever bad luck happened was due to the companies’ own actions or the vicissitudes of the times.
