England and Wales Cricket Board gets a new sponsor

Health insurance brand Vitality is set to sign a sponsorship deal with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). England‘s domestic Twenty20 cricket tournament, the T20 Blast will be sponsored by the health insurance company for the next four years. Besides that, the company will also sponsor all men’s and women’s home international T20 series for the next two years.

Grassroot competitions will also be hosted by the company. The new deal has come to the fore after NatWest, ECB’s previous T20 cricket sponsor chose to vacate the slot. NatWest had previously succeeded Friends Life as the domestic T20 sponsor in 2014.

Joe Root is the brand ambassador of Vitality

Interestingly, England Test captain Joe Root is himself a Vitality brand ambassador and the company also has sponsorship deals in football, rugby, hockey and netball.

“Vitality are an established brand in the sports marketplace with a proven track record of using sponsorship successfully to grow fanbases and improve participation levels. They’re a natural fit for a partnership to drive interest and engagement in all our different T20 competitions at every level.” ECB commercial director Rob Calder was quoted as saying by sportspromedia.

The T20 Blast

Currently, England stand fourth on the ICC T20I team rankings. But talking of their domestic T20 tournaments, the T20 blast has become quite prominent over the years. The upcoming edition of the T20 Blast is generating a lot of excitement with star players signing up for the tournament.

The league consists of 18 first-class county teams divided into two divisions of nine teams each. A couple of new signings have been made for the 2018 edition, one of which is that of the 19-year-old Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan. Sussex have signed Rashid for the first half of their campaign.

The 2018 edition begins on July 4. With the first game to be played between Essex and Sussex at County Ground, Chelmsford. This will be Vitality’s first tournament as the new sponsor.