Team India jersey has always reflected the most dominant brands of its time: Vinit Karnik

When Apollo Tyres recently secured the coveted Lead Sponsorship of Team India’s jersey, it marked more than just another high-value cricket deal — it signalled a rare consolidation of brand presence on the country’s most powerful sporting asset. 

In this conversation, Vinit Karnik, Managing Director – Content, Entertainment and Sports, WPP Media–unpacks the strategy, foresight, and market dynamics that made the deal possible, while reflecting on the evolution of cricket sponsorships and the growing expectations brands bring to the table today.

Read e4m report on Apollo Tyres being onboarded as Team India lead sponsor

Excerpts: 

What was the agency’s role in shaping and securing this deal, and what were the key considerations that convinced both sides?

Apollo Tyres’ entry into cricket through the Team India Lead Sponsor partnership is a landmark moment — strategic, timely, and deeply resonant. The Team India jersey is arguably the single most powerful media vehicle in the country, reaching 1.4 billion Indians at once, while embodying national pride and the memories of countless historic victories.

For Apollo Tyres, this partnership was about arriving in cricket with stature. From an agency perspective, our role went far beyond transactional execution—we were relentless in scouting opportunities that matched the brand’s ambition. The moment the opportunity arrived, we leveraged our experience in structuring the Team India kit deal with Adidas in 2023, and moved decisively to frame a winning strategy.

In doing so, WPP Media has now enabled 100 per cent Share of Voice on the Team India jersey—between Apollo Tyres and Adidas—an unprecedented consolidation. Achieving this required rigorous market intelligence, competitive mapping, and precise navigation of a complex EOI bidding process. The final outcome was clinched by a margin of just 4.5 per cent over the second-highest bid, underscoring the intensity of the contest.

This is foresight, discipline, and conviction in action—helping Apollo Tyres script an entry into cricket that is as grand as the jersey it now adorns.

Read e4m report on Vinit Karnik’s appointment to lead Content, Ent, Sports verticals at GroupM

Cricket partnerships often risk being seen as just logo visibility. How did you and Apollo plan to ensure this association delivers real brand differentiation and business impact?

There is a saying that “only a master can appreciate a masterpiece”. Cricket sponsorships are similar—on the surface they can be reduced to logo visibility, but for brands that know how to extract value, the potential is far deeper. Team India Lead Sponsor is arguably the only media vehicle today that can reach billions at once, cutting across the increasingly fragmented media landscape, while also carrying the pride and passion of the nation.

For Apollo Tyres, this partnership goes well beyond logo presence. It is designed to deliver differentiation and impact at multiple levels: from creating brand assets with Team India that embody the “Go the Distance” ethos, to instituting a match-day award that builds brand storytelling into the live experience, to engaging trade partners and fan communities through tickets, hospitality, and activations.

When seen in totality, the Team India platform is not just about visibility—it is a catalyst to turn the page for Apollo Tyres, delivering both brand salience and tangible business impact.

Read e4m exclusive interview with Apollo Tyres’ Udyan Ghai on the Team India deal 

How will your agency bring the brand’s story alive for such a diverse audience?

It is still early to reveal specifics, but what we can say with confidence is that this partnership is designed for scale and longevity. Spanning 2.5 years and 141 matches—including marquee tournaments like the ICC Women’s World Cup and T20 Men’s World Cup in India, as well as the ODI World Cup in Africa—the canvas is as global as it is national.

From an agency perspective, WPP Media partners Apollo Tyres end-to-end on all media deployments, ensuring this is not just a cricket sponsorship but a fully integrated brand journey. The activation architecture will cut across broadcast, digital, and on-ground experiences, while also weaving into content, social, and trade engagement platforms.

The ambition is clear: to bring Apollo Tyres’ “Go the Distance” story alive for a billion-plus Indians in ways that resonate equally with fans in stadiums, viewers at home, and communities online—making the brand part of cricket’s cultural conversation, not just its visual landscape.

You’ve been closely involved with sports marketing for years. How have cricket sponsorships evolved in India—from ground signage to title rights to jersey sponsorships?

Over the last two decades, cricket has been the bellwether of the sports industry in India—fueling its rise to the cusp of the USD 2 billion mark. From the Prudential Cup days in 1987 to today’s IPL and Team India partnerships, cricket sponsorships have undergone a complete metamorphosis.

What once began with static ground signage and basic visibility has steadily evolved into multi-dimensional rights ecosystems. Today, the emphasis goes far beyond logos—it’s about storytelling through social media, integrating brands into content, leveraging player access, and creating activations that travel across platforms and fan touchpoints.

Jersey sponsorships, title rights, and on-ground assets are no longer endpoints; they are entry points into a much larger canvas of engagement. The evolution of cricket sponsorship in India reflects the journey of the industry itself—moving from visibility to value, and from exposure to experience.

With rising media fragmentation and digital viewership, what new expectations do brands bring to cricket partnerships today compared to a decade ago?

A decade ago, cricket sponsorships were about visibility—TV eyeballs and logo recall. Today, with media fragmentation and digital-first audiences, brands demand more: player access, content that travels across platforms, and activations that create community and cultural resonance. In this landscape, the Team India jersey stands apart—arguably the single most powerful media asset in the country, cutting across socio-economic strata. It delivers not just exposure, but stature, trust, and enduring brand equity.

In your view, how has the valuation of this property changed over time, and what makes it so coveted?

The Team India jersey has always reflected the most dominant brands of its time. It is the most visible and emotionally resonant asset in Indian sport, stitched into the pride and memories of over a billion fans.

From a valuation perspective, the recent EOI process was telling—even the lowest bid came in 17 per cent higher than the incumbent sponsor. That speaks volumes about the belief brands place in this platform. The opportunity to have one’s name on the chest of Team India—the single most visible sporting asset in the country—makes the position uniquely coveted, delivering not just visibility but stature, trust, and cultural permanence.

What should brands keep in mind to move beyond just visibility on the jersey and create deeper fan engagement?

For brands, the key is to remember that no deliverable is “small” or secondary. Every element in the rights package has latent value—archival footage and matchday images, for instance, are worth their weight in gold when repurposed into brand assets built around viral on-field moments.

The overarching principle is twofold: keep a keen eye for opportunities to capitalize on, and ensure the execution is simple and fast. In today’s environment, speed and cultural relevance often determine whether a sponsorship is just visibility or becomes a fan-first engagement story.