The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have signed metaverse company FanCraze as its official partner and accomplice for the Women’s T20 Challenge 2022. BCCI have also signed My11Circle as Title Sponsor and Boost & CEAT as the Official Partners of the Women’s T20 Challenge 2022.
For a long time, the BCCI had stayed away from bringing NFT companies as sponsors and it also demanded the franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL) ‘maintain the distance’.
“It is all the more interesting that this has begun with women’s cricket in India. It offers a higher level of fan-engagement, which women’s cricket needs at the moment. The BCCI is also planning the women’s IPL and the timing is just right. What this also offers is a platform for NFT to officially enter the men’s cricket ecosystem in the country and that’s as big a market across any sport anywhere in the world,” say those tracking developments.
This happened at a time when the International Cricket Council (ICC) and its other component entities had already started bringing NFT companies on board through formal partnerships.
This also gives NFT a suitable platform to mark their foot in the country’s men’s cricket market, which is as enormous as any game in the globe. FanCraze is also the International Cricket Council’s partner which is alongside being on board with West Indies cricket.
Recently, cricket Australia has signed a long term deal to issue NFTs and engage in the advanced collectibles market.
“We are excited to be an official partner of the Women’s T20 Challenge. We will be a brand new mobile game based on collecting and playing with women’s cricket NFTs over the course of the 2022 Women’s T20 Challenge. This shows us what is possible if one combines creators, content and commerce,” says Anshum Bhambri, CEO at FanCraze.
The Women’s T20 Challenge 2022 will be featuring three teams-the Supernovas, Velocity and Trailblazers- and is going to compete from May 23 to May 28 at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune.