Cricket World Cup: ICC issues strict advisory, guidelines for sponsors

As the Cricket World Cup has begun, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has come up with a series of strict advisories and guidelines for brands, sponsors, and partners advertising in the tournament, according to a report in The Economic Times (ET). The guidelines talk about the unauthorised association and clampdown on such brands.

The clampdown comes at a time when dozens of brands from various sectors which include goods, e-commerce, travel, gaming, and hospitality, among others have established an association with the mega event, the report said.

Elaborating about keeping a close eye on the associations with the event, the ICC website said, "It is evident that many people are eager to use the ICC IPR (intellectual property rights) to boost their business activities by marketing their products in connection with the event. The ICC is aware of businesses seeking to gain an unauthorised association with the event."

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ICC has a long list of sponsors, which includes names like MRF Tyres, Booking.com, Mastercard, Bira, Thums Up, Nissan, Oppo, Royal Stag, and Dream 11. On the other hand, ICC's broadcasting partner Disney Star has companies like PhonePe, Mahindra & Mahindra, Dream11, Hindustan Unilever, Coca-Cola, Pernod, Booking.com, and Diageo.

In the past, there have been ambush marketing by brands such as Pepsico's "nothing official about it" campaign which stole the limelight from official World Cup sponsor Coca-Cola, The Economic Times report added.

The latest ICC guidelines say that ads suggesting an association between a brand, product and service using ICC's name, marks or footage without authorisation are not allowed. Apart from this, organising an event which uses these items is also not allowed.

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The ICC has 20 sponsors and six global partners, which include IndusInd Bank and MasterCard. Industry experts have said that India is hosting the Cricket World Cup entirely for the first time and the cricket body (ICC) is likely to earn $120-150 million by way of sponsorship fees, the ET report said.