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Cricket in Canada gets major boost
With South Asians becoming the biggest visible minority in the country, a second Canadian bank has taken the cricket sponsorship route to woo them.
After the Royal Bank of Canada — the country’s largest bank — announced cricket sponsorships in February, the second largest bank — Scotiabank — last week announced a three-year sponsorship agreement with Cricket Canada, formerly known as the Canadian Cricket Association and established in 1892.
The bank will also be the official sponsor of the men’s and women’s national teams and the Canadian senior and under-19 championships.
“It’s big day for us,” said Ben Sennik, president of Cricket Canada, calling Scotiabank the sport’s first major corporate sponsor in Canada. “It’s very important, because it gives us now the muscle to go ahead in a more organized manner.”
For a sport that has been living “from hand to mouth,” according to Sennik, the agreement offers a chance to establish a developmental framework. Cricket Canada hopes for more good news in the weeks ahead with Sport Canada announcing that cricket will get government support.
Rania Llewellyn, vice president for multiculturalism banking, said: “We are very proud to take on this pre-eminent national sponsorship of cricket in Canada.
“The popularity of cricket in the United Kingdom, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Guyana and the West Indies has carried over into several of Canada’s multicultural communities.
“We look forward to working with Cricket Canada to enhance the sport’s appeal across the country at both the professional and community levels.
“We continue to look for new ways to serve Canada’s multicultural communities by offering products and services that reflect the needs and interests of our customers.”
As part of the sponsorship, the three-day Scotiabank National Cricket Championships will be held from May 17 at the Maple Leaf Cricket Club in King City near Toronto.
The Scotiabank National Under-19 Championship, which will be held later this year.
RBC recently announced its Wicket Cricket program — including complete cricket starter kits — designed to help schools and communities introduce the sport to physical education programs covering grades two through six.
A press release said Cricket Canada and Scotiabank will work to develop a children and youth-centric program to promote the sport in the country where it once enjoyed a great following until the National Hockey League (NHL) replaced it in the early 20th century.
Expecting more such sponsorships soon, Cricket Canada CEO Atul Ahuja said: “As we become a professionally-run organization and contract professional players, sponsorships of this kind add value to the sport and the corporate sector.”
Meanwhile, California-based Willow TV has just acquired from the World Sport Group the exclusive rights in a five-year deal to distribute on television, radio, broadband and Internet the all-new Indian Premier League cricket in North America (including the United States and Canada), Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean.
Live coverage of the 59-match inaugural season of IPL will start Friday (April 18).
Lalit Modi, Chairman & Commissioner, IPL, said, “BCCI-IPL . . . is pleased to be working with Willow TV on the broadcast of the Indian Premier League in the Americas and is confident that this will be a successful working partnership.”
Expressing his views on this association, Venu Nair, president, South Asia, World Sport Group, said, “The popularity of cricket in this part of the world is immense. We are glad to partner with Willow as they have one of the best distribution networks and have a very large subscriber base in this region.”
“The Indian Premier League is the most exciting new development in world cricket and we are delighted to acquire these rights,” said Vijay Srinivasan, CEO of Willow TV.
“Willow is pleased to bring this blockbuster event featuring the top stars in world cricket to viewers and listeners in the Americas.”
The IPL teams are Mumbai Indians, Bangalore Royal Challengers, Hyderabad Deccan Chargers, Chennai Super Kings, Delhi DareDevils, Mohali-Punjab Kings XI, Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals.
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