St John’s, Antigua – The West Indies Cricket Board today announced Celkon Mobile as the title sponsor of the Tri Nations Series to be played by West Indies, India and Sri Lanka.
The series will be known as the Celkon Mobile Cup and will be played in Jamaica and Trinidad from June 28 to July 11.
Celkon Mobile is one of leading manufacturing companies in India which has pioneered mobile phone solutions and wireless technologies in that country.
WICB Chief Executive Officer Michael Muirhead commented: "We are delighted to have Celkon Mobile on board as the sponsor of the Tri Series. The Celkon Mobile Cup is a high profile series for us with the participation of the ICC Cricket World Cup champions – India – and the World Cup finalist Sri Lanka in addition to our own ICC World Twenty20 champions West Indies."
"These continue to be lean financial times but we have seen greater interest from the corporate sector in the area of sponsorship and we have seen an increase in interest in the sponsorship of West Indies cricket from the global corporate space. We thank Celkon Mobile for their investment in West Indies cricket and we are confident that their association with our strong cricket brand will be of benefit to them as a mobile handset and tablet manufacturer," Muirhead said.
Chairman and Managing Director of Celkon Mobiles, Mr. Y. Guru commented: "We at Celkon Mobiles are delighted to associate with WICB in the Tri-series as the title sponsor. As a brand, Celkon connects with the youth and we believe cricket is the right platform to connect with the youth of today that represents high energy, competitiveness and innovation. We look forward to an exciting series and a great association with all partners in making this series a grand success."
The title sponsorship of the series is part of the WICB’s granting sponsorship rights for the series to Technology Frontiers, an Indian based company. Technology Frontiers acquired title sponsorship rights to the series, which includes on field, stump, sightscreen and some perimeter advertising.
WICB Commercial Manager Nelecia Yeates said West Indies cricket will benefit from the association with Technology Frontiers.
"We have leveraged the expertise of Technology Frontiers in the Indian market which have accrued benefits to the WICB and West Indies Cricket. This arrangement has become common practice in the sports business and we are pleased that Technology Frontiers have been able to bring Celkon on board along with other mega-brands in India," Yeates said.
"What is most exciting for us as a region is that for the first time in the Caribbean we will have fully digitised perimeter advertising for all the matches, which is now the norm in the IPL and Premier League football in England," Yeates added.
"This initiative takes us into a whole new realm of maximising our cricket branding for international matches and is one in which we will be looking to repeat and expand for future series as well," Yeates explained.
Managing Director of Technology Frontiers, Muralidharan Srinivasan commented: "Technology Frontiers is pleased to partner with WICB for the upcoming Tri Series with West Indies, India and Sri Lanka. At Technology Frontiers we have constantly endeavoured to bring in innovation and technology into sports to elevate the brand experience and this series will be the first Tri Series to have 100% digital branding on ground similar to IPL. We look forward to an exciting tournament and partnership with WICB."
Celkon Mobile Cup Schedule
Sabina Park, Jamaica
Friday, June 28 – West Indies v Sri Lanka
Sunday, June 30 – West Indies v India
Tuesday July 2 – India v Sri Lanka
Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad
Friday, July 5 – West Indies v India
Sunday, July 7 – West Indies v Sri Lanka
Tuesday, July 9 – Sri Lanka v India
Thursday, July 11 – Final (1st place v 2nd place)