Gulf airline giant Etihad Airways has been named the official sponsor of the Indian Premier League’s most successful franchise and five-time winners Chennai Super Kings. Etihad Airways on Thursday signed an agreement with the CSK management and the association will cover CSK events and platforms and also cover its logo on the players’ jerseys.
Etihad Airways has roped in Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif as its brand ambassador, it said in a statement on Thursday. Since its inception 20 years ago, Etihad has made investments in India, whether by using the largest aircraft or creating localized menus for consumers in each of the ten cities in which it operates.
Etihad Airways Chief Revenue Officer Arik De, in an interaction with PTI, gave insights into their recent association with the Chennai Super Kings. De stated that Cricket is a big part of the country and that deepening that relationship is very important. For the same, they have started our association with Chennai Super Kings.
Etihad announced as official sponsor of Chennai Super Kings
He said: “So the investment we announced today is about CSK. “Cricket is a big part of this country and deepening that relationship for us is very important.”
The announcement was made at a public meeting in Chennai that included senior CSK management officials and also the Eithad cabin crew, who were seen wearing the Chennai Super Kings jersey with the new logo.
Arik De further added that Etihad will unwind its association with Chennai Super Kings as a Bollywood film. He also added that the airline will have a presence at the Chidambaram stadium as a hospitality service and at the end explained the main reason for the association with CSK. He stated that CSK has won five IPL titles while Eithad has won the best carrier award five times, which was the main reason for choosing CSK.
He said: “It’s going to be a pretty deep partnership and we’re going to unravel it slowly, like a good Bollywood movie unravels,” said De. In the initial part we’re going to have visibility in the stadium through a hospitality suite. We will be the sponsor of the jersey (and) the back of the jersey. So that’s how we’re going to start.”
Since the team’s debut in the lucrative league, former India captain MS Dhoni has led the Chennai Super Kings. The team has also not made any significant changes to its support staff. One of the team’s key operating principles has been to place greater emphasis on veteran players and offer them more opportunities.
Players like Shardul Thakur, Daryl Mitchell and Rachin Ravindra are among the players who make up the Chennai Super Kings. These players have the potential to be extremely important in allowing CSK to replicate their IPL 2024 exploits. CSK will once again be led by MS Dhoni in the Indian Premier League 2024.