Wonder Cement Breaks New Ground With IPL Partnership 

Cement maker Wonder Cement has become the first brand from its category to score a sponsorship collaboration with the Indian Premier League (IPL). 

Under the new agreement, the Indian brand has been named the official umpire partner of the world’s richest T20 cricket tournament, replacing Paytm. It will include prominent branding presence for Wonder Cement on the umpire uniforms and caps, as well as LED parameters and the sight screen, right in front of the wicket. 

According to insiders, the deal is reportedly a four-year agreement and worth about US$6m per year. The deal sees Wonder Cement join the likes of TATA Group, My11Circle, RuPay, CEAT and Angel One. 

The deal was activated from the Qualifier 1 match in Ahmedabad between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) last night.  Prior to Wonder Cement’s play, its rivals Ambuja Cements and UltraTech have also been active in backing IPL teams as well as buying ads during the IPL coverage. 

According to ASN data, cricket (82.5%, ~US$1.34b) is the most backed sporting platform in India’s sponsorship market, with the IPL as its lucrative crowning glory. As for Q224, the forecast for cricket sponsorship is tipped to reach almost US$135.4m, slightly more than 1.1x of the average quarterly investment of almost US$118m.