Why don’t big brands like Nike sponsor IPL teams today?

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Updated on06/05/26

Big global brands like Nike still work with sports, but IPL sponsorship has become extremely expensive and highly competitive. Many IPL teams now prefer partnerships with betting-related platforms, fantasy sports apps, fintech companies, or large Indian brands that are willing to spend aggressively for visibility. At the same time, Nike often focuses more on long-term athlete deals, football, basketball, and national teams rather than multiple IPL franchise sponsorships.

Another reason is that sportswear sponsorship in IPL is already dominated by brands like Puma, Adidas, and Indian companies competing for merchandising and apparel rights. Honestly, it is less about Nike avoiding IPL and more about changing business strategies, sponsorship costs, and where brands think they will get the best marketing returns today.

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Reyansh Choudhury

Ten years on the field, coaching athletes and understanding sport from the inside — bringing that same depth to every piece he writes.

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Reyansh Choudhury is a professional sports coach and content writer with over 10 years of experience in athletic training, performance coaching, and sports education. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Sports Science from Lakshmibai National Institute of Physical Education (LNIPE), Gwalior, and carries a Level 2 Coaching Certification from the Sports Authority of India (SAI) — credentials that place his sports writing firmly within the domain of qualified professional practice. His content covers athletic performance, fitness training, sports nutrition, game strategy, injury prevention, and the evolving landscape of professional and grassroots sport in India. His work has appeared on platforms including SportStar, Sportskeeda, and Fit & Active India, where he writes for athletes, coaches, fitness enthusiasts, and sports fans who want content backed by real field experience — not just statistics and match reports. Over a decade of coaching athletes across disciplines including cricket, athletics, and football has given Reyansh an on-ground perspective that shapes everything he writes. He has trained 500+ athletes across age groups, contributed to school and district-level sports development programmes, and published 300+ articles covering both performance science and sports culture in India. He is a registered member of the Sports Coaches Federation of India (SCFI). Across all his writing, his standard is straightforward — every training recommendation is coach-tested, every performance insight comes from direct athlete interaction, and every article is written with the credibility that only comes from a decade spent inside the sport, not just watching it.

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Replying to the question above

Answered on05/08/26

Hi Rohit 😊

Big brands like Nike still work in cricket, but in 2026 IPL sponsorship has become super expensive and crowded. Today, teams mostly partner with fintech, fantasy gaming, airlines, and tech companies because they spend huge money for visibility. Sports brands now focus more on merchandise sales and athlete deals instead of putting their logo everywhere on IPL jerseys. Also, many IPL teams already have multiple sponsors, so global brands sometimes prefer cleaner branding strategies. So it’s not that Nike isn’t interested — the whole IPL sponsorship market has changed a lot over the years.

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Reyansh Choudhury

Ten years on the field, coaching athletes and understanding sport from the inside — bringing that same depth to every piece he writes.

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Reyansh Choudhury is a professional sports coach and content writer with over 10 years of experience in athletic training, performance coaching, and sports education. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Sports Science from Lakshmibai National Institute of Physical Education (LNIPE), Gwalior, and carries a Level 2 Coaching Certification from the Sports Authority of India (SAI) — credentials that place his sports writing firmly within the domain of qualified professional practice. His content covers athletic performance, fitness training, sports nutrition, game strategy, injury prevention, and the evolving landscape of professional and grassroots sport in India. His work has appeared on platforms including SportStar, Sportskeeda, and Fit & Active India, where he writes for athletes, coaches, fitness enthusiasts, and sports fans who want content backed by real field experience — not just statistics and match reports. Over a decade of coaching athletes across disciplines including cricket, athletics, and football has given Reyansh an on-ground perspective that shapes everything he writes. He has trained 500+ athletes across age groups, contributed to school and district-level sports development programmes, and published 300+ articles covering both performance science and sports culture in India. He is a registered member of the Sports Coaches Federation of India (SCFI). Across all his writing, his standard is straightforward — every training recommendation is coach-tested, every performance insight comes from direct athlete interaction, and every article is written with the credibility that only comes from a decade spent inside the sport, not just watching it.

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Replying to the question above

Updated on12/30/25

Indian Premier League (IPL) is Indian tournament (whose brand value touched Rs 34,000 crore mark last year, by the way). So, it’s very fitting that it would attract more of Indian brands.

The names you mentioned, Nike and Puma, and even Adidas, they are international names. And while as big and popular they are, they don’t necessarily target the mid-class Indian consumers. So, at the end of the day, even when the team and IPL itself are trying to approach big names, it comes down to the brand’s marketing strategy.

If the brand doesn’t see any feasible returns by investing in the IPL teams, they won’t associate with them. This has to do very less with the team and IPL’s own overall valuation. So, it’s very unlikely that we would see big brands associate with IPL teams even if the team’s valuation increases to billions. Unless their target audiencechange,and they start appealing a specific target audience, global names like Nike, Puma and more would continue maintaining the distance.

That being said though, IPL teams are big and popular. And they are already sponsored by some of the big Indian brands. So, there’s no point of even discussing that IPL is a big and popular league. Yes, it is! But why international brands aren’t the sponsors of the teams has to do more with their own marketing strategy, instead of the valuation of teams and the IPL brand.

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