The International Cricket Council has announced a long-term strategic partnership with digital payment start-up BharatPe. As part of the deal, announced on Monday, BharatPe will be an official partner for the ICC global events until the end of 2023.
BharatPe will get integration rights for the premier ICC events through the term. The deal will come into existence with the upcoming ICC World Test Championship, to be played between India and New Zealand at Southampton; ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021; ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022; ICC Women’s World Cup 2022; ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2022; ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2022), ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023) and ICC World Test Championship 2023.
“Our women’s and men’s events, provide leading brands an unparalleled, high-reach platform for conversations with very involved and passionate fans. Our commercial partners have greatly benefited. The 2021-23 cycle presents a unique opportunity with 5 senior level World Cups taking place, which will set the stage for reaching out to an unprecedented numbers of cricket fans,” said Anurag Dahiya, ICC Chief Commercial Officer.
BharatPe will be entitled to promote the association with ICC across broadcast and digital platforms and in-venue brand activations at all the ICC events.
“We are excited to enter into a strategic association with ICC and look forward to partnering with them for the world’s most prestigious and celebrated cricketing tournaments over the next 3 years. We believe that cricket is one of the biggest unifiers – that cut across geographies and/or languages,” said BharatPe co-founder and CEO Ashneer Grover.
“I am confident that this association will enable us to build a stronger relationship with our existing merchants, as well as engage better with millions of new, small merchants across the length and breadth of India. It is a matter of immense pride for us that BharatPe, a truly Indian company that started its journey just 2.5 years ago, will be representing the nation on global platforms of ICC.”
BharatPe has aggressively invested on cricket for achieving the brand marketing goals. The indigenous Indian brand has roped in as brand icons an XI of Indian international cricketers – national team vice-captain Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami, Ravindra Jadeja, Suresh Raina, Shreyas Iyer, Prithvi Shaw, Sanju Samson, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Shubhman Gill.
