The New Zealand Cricket (NZC) governing body has tied up two major commercial agreements in advance of an incoming tour by India's men's national team.
Indian motorcycle manufacturer Hero MotoCorp has struck a deal through which its Vida mobility brand will act as title sponsor across all three series that New Zealand and India will play – five Twenty20 matches, five one-day international fixtures, and two Tests.
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The Ai+ Smartphone brand, meanwhile, will become the 'powered by' sponsor for the whole tour.
The 12 matches set to take place are the most ever to be held by NZC during a bilateral home series.
The first fixture of the dozen, a T20 in Christchurch, is set to take place on October 22.
Geoff Allott, chief executive at NZC, commented: "There's no secret about how big this tour by India is, and we're delighted to have Hero MotoCorp and Ai+ Smartphone partnering with us on it.
"Alongside the rivalry that's developed between the Blackcaps [the New Zealand men's team] and India, it's equally important that NZC continues to build bonds and partnerships with the Indian public and businesses."
In late August, NZC released its preliminary 2025-26 financials – the organization lost NZ$7.3 million ($4.1 million) during the year, partly due to significantly reduced financial terms for a deal with Indian fantasy sports firm Dream11, which had been a primary NZC sponsor.
Incoming tours by India always provide a major financial boost for all other countries' cricket boards, both in terms of sponsorship and broadcast income. As such, organizations such as NZC attempt to schedule them as much as possible.
In terms of other Hero MotoCorp and Vida involvement in cricket, meanwhile, the latter Hero brand was also the main partner and the front-of-shirt sponsor of the Indian Premier League's Kolkata Knight Riders earlier this year.
Elsewhere in sport, Hero MotoCorp spent over a decade as title sponsor of soccer's Indian Super League, and is also a long-running partner of the International Hockey Federation (with that deal recently extended through 2029).
