Subheading: 5,000% increase in Number of Bets
This is the second of a three-part series on groundbreaking partnerships secured for Major League Cricket’s 2024 season. In the first part we explored the deal with Lexus.
Gaming sponsors have become mainstream throughout the cricket world. From franchise tournaments, to national teams, to individual stars, it is hard not to see online gaming branding everywhere you turn.
In the midst of this ubiquity, however, Major League Cricket accomplished something new in 2024 on the gaming sponsorship front: attracting the largest online gaming company, Stake, into the cricket world.
Diving headfirst into cricket
Despite their size and stature, Stake had surprisingly not previously been involved in cricket.
According to Dominic Rae, Sponsorship Manager for Stake, who managed the MLC relationship: “This year was really the first time we’ve made major moves in the cricket space. We partnered with Ravi Shastri and Major League Cricket (MLC) in two significant steps, and we have exciting plans to increase our presence in the coming years.”
Monica Sadhu, MLC’s VP of Commercial Partnerships, who brokered the deal for the league,added: “Stake has been expanding its sports sponsorship portfolio worldwide. The timing was conducive to this alignment as their first investment in cricket through the partnership with Major League Cricket.”
Attracted by quality
Surprisingly, what attracted Stake to the MLC was not so much the US market itself, but the quality of the tournament.
As Rae says: “With the MLC partnership we weren’t so focused on the territory, but with the product, and in the inaugural MLC season in 2023 we were really impressed with the tournament and what the team behind it were able to achieve in such a short space of time.”
Stake was further attracted by the MLC’s vision and plans for the future: “In our initial conversations the ambition for growth was clear and resonated well with us, so it was a simple decision when the opportunity came to become an official partner.”
MLC’s Sadhu agrees, and adds that a big part of the attraction to the MLC beyond the product comes from “the names behind it, and the investors on board, When you have majority owners of the likes of IPL powerhouses like KKR, CSK, and Mumbai Indians in addition to other serious investors such as Delhi Capitals and our local US ownership groups, it legitimizes the league and gives players and sponsors the confidence to participate.”
5,000% growth
Sadhu said she was very confident that for a gaming company, a high-profile tournament sponsorship would deliver tremendous value. “Given the market size of the US combined with the MLC’s extensive global broadcast footprint, covering over 100 countries, we were sure that Stake would recoup its investment in the partnership very quickly.”
Stake’s Rae concurred, saying that the sponsorship performance exceeded Stake’s expectations. “We were delighted with the sponsorship this season… From a broadcast perspective our branding was highly prominent and accepted bets on MLC were up nearly 5,000% year-on-year, with betting turnover increasing by nearly 1,000%. By any standard that marks a successful sponsorship.”
The data speaks volumes
Gaming sponsors, given their unique vantage point and real time data about a global user base transacting on games, can provide a unique insight into the performance of a property overall.
Indeed, Rae confirmed that their data showed that the MLC Season two was on a very strong upward trajectory.
“We saw massive interest in MLC from many territories. MLC has a number of significant broadcast agreements worldwide, and with household names from many top international teams, as well as the ever improving domestic talent, it’s not surprising that it captured the attention of the global cricketing audience.”
Excitement for the future
A recurring theme throughout MLC Season 2 was the feeling that the tournament was ascending close to the top position in overall star power and quality of all franchise T20 tournaments, second only to the IPL.
Stake confirmed this.
“Having attended the tournament finals in person I was hugely impressed with the stadium experience at Grand Prairie and the calibre of cricket on show… The calibre of play is a match for any T20 league outside of the IPL.”
This bodes well for the future of the MLC and its partnership with Stake. As Rae reiterated: “we are very excited for the journey we hope to continue with MLC.”
Sadhu concurred: “It’s been a fantastic partnership — as a client Stake were extremely easy to work with given our alignment, and we’ve been very happy with the association. The synergies were strong, and we look forward to continuing the partnership.”
