The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has expanded its major commercial tie-up with health-focused insurance company Vitality, which becomes the first brand to feature on the back of the England cricket kit.
The deal will see the Vitality brand featured on all England men’s, women’s, Lions, and mixed disability playing kits, with the agreement starting with the 2025-26 men’s Ashes series between rivals England and Australia, which began earlier today.
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Vitality branding will be seen at other upcoming tournaments, including the 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup being hosted by England and Wales, a women’s Test match against India at the iconic Lord’s venue in London, and the second edition of the revamped T20 Blast Women’s competition.
Nick Read, Vitality’s chief vitality officer, has said: “Cricket has some of the most inspirational sports people and role models playing at the very top of the game, which is vital in helping increase participation in cricket at every level and across sport more generally.
“We’re therefore delighted to announce the presence of Vitality on England kits today, further building on our existing partnership with the ECB.”
The expansion builds on the pair's long-standing partnership, having renewed their wide-ranging agreement last year for Vitality to retain title sponsorship of all home Twenty20 matches played by England’s men’s and women’s national teams, as well as the T20 Blast domestic county competition, until 2026.
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By GlobalDataThat deal also saw Vitality continue as the official wellness partner of English test cricket and The Hundred, the UK’s short-format franchise competition, through the 2026 season.
The deal expansion comes as the governing body continues to bolster its backroom with strategic hires aimed at increasing commercial revenue.
In September, the ECB announced Rhys Beera, former head of content strategy at Facebook’s parent company Meta, as its interim chief commercial officer to replace Tony Singh, who had served as CCO since March 2019.
Last month, meanwhile, the governing body added experienced sports executive Aarti Dabas as its new chief revenue officer to help shape the game’s commercial and revenue strategy, as well as lead the organization’s partnerships, media and broadcast deals, sponsorships, and marketing functions.
Earlier this year, the ECB also reappointed Richard Thompson as chair on a second three-year term until 2028.
In terms of ECB commercial activity, its list of sponsors includes brands such as Toyota (principal partner), Rothesay, Metro Bank, Vitality, Cognizant, IG, and Zoopla, with Castore the governing body's kit supply partner.
In early July, Toyota enhanced its presence in UK cricket by expanding its overall ECB relationship to include The Hundred, the eight-team, short-format, franchise competition.
In May, the body secured a new broadcast deal with UK commercial broadcaster Channel 5 to provide free-to-air coverage of international T20 matches for the next four years.
The ECB also extended its partnership with the BBC, through which renewal the public-service broadcaster will continue to air England men’s and women’s international highlights and live coverage of The Hundred short-format competition for the next four years.
