The Cricket Australia (CA) governing body has unveiled Australian bank Westpac as its new main commercial partner.
Through a deal announced today (July 31), Westpac becomes the principal partner of CA, extending across the country's men's and women's national teams.
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This will entail the bank's logo being front and center on match shirts worn by those teams (as well as Australia A and the under-19s) across all international matches played in Australia – tests, one-day internationals, and Twenty20 fixtures.
Westpac replaces rival Commonwealth Bank (CommBank) as CA's main sponsor, as was first reported in late December.
CommBank had been CA's longest-running sponsor, through a deal dating back to 1987, but decided against renewing the last tie-up between the two parties, which expired at the end of June.
Aside from the national team element of this new deal, Westpac becomes a partner of the domestic Big Bash and Women's Big Bash T20 leagues.
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By GlobalDataThe partnership has been disclosed a month after it formally got underway, on July 1, with the next national team home series taking place in August, as the men's side face South Africa. The next instalment of the Ashes rivalry between Australia and England, meanwhile, will take place between November and January.
In terms of CA's commercial activity, earlier this month, the body announced the extension of its relationship with the Toyota Australia division of the automotive giant.
Through a partnership renewal unveiled today, Toyota will continue as a sponsor of essentially all the highest-profile cricket in Australia – across the men's and women's games – through the 2028-29 cricket season.
This comes with the previous tie-up between the two parties – which GlobalData has valued at $4 million for one calendar year – having expired at the end of June. That was only a short-term deal itself, covering primary shirt sponsorship rights for the national men's and women's teams.
Other current CA commercial partners include Qantas (with an extension unveiled in late March), Woolworths, Weber, KFC, and Bet365, while NRMA Insurance is the naming rights partner for the home test series.
Earlier this year, the cricket body appointed experienced marketing executive Ed Sanders as chief commercial officer.
This deal comes with CA currently weighing up bringing private investment into the Big Bash.
The league is currently one of the few T20 competitions worldwide to have stayed away from the private ownership model – so far.
However, with the sale of stakes in teams from English cricket's The Hundred having raised over £500 million ($659 million) for the game in that country – six of the eight deals were announced, finally, earlier this week – CA is now considering its options as regards accepting private investors and their money.
CA has now received the recommendations of a report from the Boston Consulting Group, CA's consultant partners (that CA itself commissioned). Among other recommendations is the proposal that minority stakes in the eight Big Bash League teams be sold off.
Mike Baird, CA's chair, commented earlier this week that while "no decisions have yet been made," work has begun to "consider the recommendations on how this value can be unlocked."
Bringing in private investment would raise finances for the T20 competitions, allowing them to bring in better players and enhance the viewing experience for fans – but the move would also likely see an element of control over the Australian cricketing summer ceded to outside interests.
