Cricket, like many other sports, has a close connection to the gambling industry. It makes sense for this to be the case, as lots of people enjoy placing bets on sporting events. Over the years, betting brands have attempted to build closer ties with cricket through players and ex-players, striking up agreements with some of the best in the business.
FairPlay Club & Sunil Narine
Sunil Narine, 34, hails from Trinidad and Tobago and represents the West Indies at the international level. In 2021, the off-spin bowler who also bats left-handed penned an agreement with one of the most respected betting exchange sites out of India, FairPlay Club. FairPlay Club was going through a bit of a revolution and called on Narine to become the face of FairPlay Club 2.0. The company motto is all about trust and security, which is why they opted to get involved with Narine, who they say brings an “air of reliance.”
W88 & Brian Lara
Brian Lara is undoubtedly one of the most famous cricketers ever to live. So, it will come as no surprise that he’s been the target of many top companies for sponsorship agreements over the years. Sports betting operator W88 took the plunge in 2021 with a multi-year arrangement, focusing on expanding the company’s reach in the sport. W88 has already entered other sporting markets after being the shirt sponsor of football clubs such as Aston Villa previously.
Parimatch & Dale Steyn
Parimatch hadn’t entered the cricketing arena previously but opted to secure their first ambassador in the form of Dale Steyn. Steyn, a former South African pacer, signed an eighteen-month deal with the global sports betting outfit in 2021, with the intention to increase brand awareness in both Africa and the UK.
Parimatch has already worked with the likes of MMA megastar Conor McGregor, former heavyweight boxing world champion Mike Tyson and some of the UFC’s biggest names. However, cricket is the latest market the brand is entering, and having Steyn on board is a shrewd move to make.
10 CRIC & Chris Gayle
Like many of the other names on this list, Chris Gayle is an iconic cricketer. The forty-two-year-old, who plays internationally for Jamaica, is just one of those players that brands want to work with. And in 2021, 10CRIC announced that they’d secured Gayle as their new ambassador.
Sports betting is undoubtedly on the rise in India, and Gayle is very much a household name not only there but globally. So, having the Universal Boss as the face of 10CRIC is one of the best sponsorship arrangements struck with a cricketer for a long time.
More gambling brands than ever are getting involved with cricket in multiple ways as the sport continues to evolve. For example, Entain is the parent company of the world-renowned brand PartyCasino and has a foundation set up to support good causes.
This includes its Pitching In initiative, millions of pounds of investment to promote & support grassroots sports. And they’re not alone, with many more companies entering the cricketing arena in the last couple of years.
