Over the years, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has gone on to become the biggest cricket league in the world. India kicked off the 2024 edition of its franchise T20 cricket league this week.
With 10 participating teams, the extravaganza is spread across 2 months of summer, providing cricketing and entertainment, with marketing and branding opportunities thrown in for good measure.
For the last two years, after the introduction of the Women’s Premier League (WPL), the IPL season kicks off just after the WPL. This year has been no different, and the WPL champions – Royal Challengers Bengaluru – saw a unique opportunity to engage with fans during the segue between the WPL and the IPL.
Earlier in the week, the Chinnaswamy cricket stadium in Bengaluru played host to 'RCB Unbox' – an on-ground fan activation event that saw more than 25,000 people turn up and cheer for both the men’s and women’s teams.
Touted to be the most opulent franchise cricket event ever, RCB Unbox leveraged its WPL win by flying in Norwegian DJ Alan Walker to headline the event. DJ Alan Walker has made it to the top of the US Billboard charts consistently with his unique brand of anthemic house music.
Bengaluru witnessed Alan Walker for the first time in a live stadium, and RCB launched its new team anthem – Team Side - composed and performed by Alan.
This is the first time any Indian sports franchise has tied up with an international artiste for its branding. The Team Sidetrack can be found here:
RCB Unbox, in its second edition, went on to become arguably the most popular pre-event show in recent cricket history, with unprecedented livestream viewership and social media chatter.
The event also witnessed the team unveil its new jersey and kit for the season, with both the women’s and men’s teams in attendance. RCB is the only league that has a foreign airline – Qatar Airways – as its principal sponsor, a brand that is committed to collaborating with the best sporting leagues in the world.
The IPL this season kicked off with an RCB fixture against the Chennai Super Kings on March 22. bringing together MS Dhoni (presumably in his last season), with Virat Kohli.
The world has its eyes on the IPL this year. It is a fitting prelude to the T20 World Cup that will be hosted by the US later this year.
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