Big Bash League 2020 – Cricket Australia’s unique Sponsorship Deal : Cricket Australia and Big Bash League (BBL 2020) will witness a unique sponsorship deal coming to life tonite. Cricket advertising has never reached these areas before, with umpires in Australia’s BBL 2020 to advertise a new sponsor in their underarms. The Australian cricket board has signed this groundbreaking partnership with Deodorant and antiperspirant brand Rexona.
Part of the deal requires umpires in the BBL 2020 to sport the product’s branding under their arms, which will be fully revealed to the watching world upon the signaling of a six (both arms raised, two logos revealed) or a bye (just one).
Rexona will be the 22nd sponsor to join cricket’s stable of commercial partners as part of its strategy to “own the underarm space” during summer for Cricket Australia.
“We are constantly on the lookout for brands that want to innovate and do things differently,’’ said Nick Thodey, CA’s head of commercial development.
“We don’t believe this has been done anywhere in the world, and there has been a strong collaborative effort with the broadcasters as well.
“There will be a Rexona logo just under the underarm, and there will be an integration with the broadcast as well that the cameras will focus on (the logo) during the play.”
As per the understanding, along with the Six, Rexona brand will also be sighted when an umpire raises his finger to give a batsman out, while giving Bye Signal. Other than this the brand will feature on cardboard cutouts of umpires in supermarkets and retail outlets according to reports in Australian media.
Twenty20 cricket is no stranger to innovation, in the game itself or the environment in which it is played, and the use of armpits for product placement is believed to be a world first in sport. Cricket Australia said in a press release Rexona had “aligned with the BBL’s umpiring fraternity to protect them from countless hours spent in the summer heat”.
Cricket Australia generating record $70Mn sponsorships this summer
The deal is the latest in a string of commercial partnerships either renewed or acquired by Cricket Australia this year. The organisation will generate a record $70m in sponsorship this summer, despite the financial difficulties presented by the Covid pandemic. This is 23 percent growth since the controversial 2018 ball-tampering incident with sponsors such as Magellan Financial Group, who abandoned the sport as then captain Steve Smith and players David Warner and Cameron Bancroft were banned from international and domestic cricket.
This season beside Rexona, Australian board has clinched landmark sponsorship deals with Dettol as T20 & ODI series sponsor, Vodafone as Test Match series sponsor. Beside this KFC has renewed as Title Sponsor of KFC.
“The work we have done on the revenue side has really helped us stabilise our financial situation,” said Stephanie Beltrame, CA’s executive general manager of broadcast and commercial.
“We’re grateful to have partners stick with us and we’ve brought on a number of new partners … most of them have been at a slight increment to previous deals, and that has allowed us to offset some of the costs that we will incur.”