Asia Cup 2025: India likely to play without sponsor as BCCI floats tender for sponsorship with 4 BIG conditions

The Asia Cup is around the corner but the Indian team is currently without a jersey sponsor after Dream11's exit. That development happened after the central government passed the Online Gaming Bill, which nullified the existence of real money gaming in the country. With that being a major chunk of Dream11's revenue, the organisation decided to shut down operations and subsequently pulled out of BCCI's sponsorship with six months still left in the contract.

On Tuesday (September 2), the BCCI floated a tender, inviting applications for sponsorship but they have also laid down four big conditions for the same. The bidding is touted to be on September 16, which suggests that India would be playing the Asia Cup without a main sponsor.

Exclusion of several sectors like gaming, betting, crypto etc

To ensure that a Dream11-like fiasco doesn't repeat, the BCCI has barred sectors like gaming, betting and crypto alongside a host of other sectors from applying for sponsorship. As they say, prevention is better than cure and the Board isn't taking any chances.

No to potential conflict of interest brands

The BCCI has excluded athleisure and sportswear manufacturers, banking, financial companies, non-alcoholic cold beverages, mixer grinders, safety locks and insurance companies. This is because these sectors have brands that could create a potential conflict of interest with BCCI's current set of sponsors.

Surrogate branding gets a closure

One of the common methods of marketing in the modern era is surrogate branding, which refers to a brand using a different entity or person to market itself indirectly.

"Bidders are prohibited from submitting bids through surrogate brands. Surrogate branding refers to any attempt to indirectly submit a bid on behalf of a different entity or Person through the use of a different entity or person. This includes, but is not limited to, the use of different names, brands, identity or logos."

Market value

A cut-off figure has been decided by the BCCI as far as sponsorship pedigree goes. The contenders should have a net worth or average turnover of Rs.300 crores.