Sports apparel and equipment giants Adidas are reportedly set to be the next apparel partners for Team India. At present, the apparel rights are were with Kewal Kiran Clothing Limited (KKCL), the parent brand of the company of Killer Jeans.
In January this year, KKCL, which owns brands like Killer, Integriti, and Lawmanpg3, became the official kit sponsors for the team. As part of the deal, KKCL donned the brand Killer logo on Team India’s kit. The brand logo will remain on the kit until 31st May 2023.
KKCL had replaced e-sports platform MPL Sports, which had inked a three-year deal with BCCI in November 2020. The deal came to an end in December 2023. MPL was paying Rs 65 lakh per match as the official kit sponsor before ending their association with the BCCI prematurely.
Adidas to be Team India’s apparel partners:
With the deal with KKCL to end soon, Cricketnext has reported that Adidas will soon replace them as the apparel sponsors for Team India, The Adidas deal will begin in June this year and will last till March 2028.
The report further stated that ever since Killer Jeans came on board, it wasn’t looked at as an ideal match to have a company with no cricketing background in the mix. The BCCI was keen to change things and end the association with Killer jeans. The board reportedly wanted to return to the days when a leading sports brand like Nike was on the Indian team’s jerseys.
Before striking a deal with MPL, the BCCI had Nike as the apparel sponsors for Team India. Nike had a five-year deal with BCCI during which they paid INR 370 Cr from 2016 to 2020. The report also added that with Adidas coming onboard with the BCCI, it will enhance the brand value and the presence of a brand with connections to both cricket and sports is likely to act as a major catalyst in attracting more to the brand.