Historically, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been a favorite hunting ground for mobile brands. The first edition of the IPL dates back to 2008, and this is the year when Nokia went on to become the first major mobile brand to leverage the potential of the IPL for its marketing and reach. Nokia was the principal sponsor of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) right from 2008 to 2014, before taking a break and returning to sponsor the same team in 2018. This is probably the earliest ever engagement of a mobile brand with an IPL franchise.

It wasn’t long before other mobile brands joined the bandwagon. Gionee became the first mobile brand to feature on the front jerseys of two teams in the same edition – KKR and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). The RCB-KKR encounters that were humorously referred to as the Gionee versus Gionee matches, where the sponsor would have hoped for a draw! Before this, Gionee replaced Nokia as principal KKR sponsor from 2014 onwards. Huawei stormed into the world of IPL be becoming the principal sponsor of RCB for four years – from 2014 to 2018. This is still regarded as one of the most successful collaborations between an IPL team and a mobile brand for two reasons – one, the IPL became 10 years old, and that year was a celebration in itself. Two, Huawei sponsored RCB during the glory days when the batting lineup of RCB looked like this – Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, AB De Viliers, Yuvraj Singh. Huawei (along with its sub-brand Honor), leveraged this unique opportunity to launch its 4S and 6X models – a clever play for boundaries and sixes!

Today, we are bang in the middle of the 19th edition of the IPL. After a brief hiatus, when mobile brands were replaced by traditional FMCG, logistics and manufacturing brands (mostly due to a turbulent business climate), 2026 marks the return of mobile brands into the highly lucrative realm of IPL.

HMD hits a boundary
In a lot of ways, HMD has been a reincarnation of Nokia in India. And it comes as no surprise that HMD is taking forward even the IPL sponsorship legacy of Nokia. For its third consecutive year, HMD has announced its continued and elevated partnership with Rajasthan Royals (RR). The idea is to engage with cricket lovers who value tech in their daily grind, with a unique placement of the HMD logo – at the back of players’ helmets. Rather than going for the more conventional jersey front or back logos, HMD in a way has extended its innovative and experimental aura to the IPL too, with its helmet branding. “It’s about putting HMD right in the line of sight for fans everywhere. This isn’t just branding. It’s about sharing the Royals’ grit and connecting with cricket lovers who expect their gear to last as long as the game’s thrill”, Ravi Kumar, VP and CEO, HMD India and APAC said. He explained, “This partnership coincides perfectly with our upcoming smartphone launch, already creating noticeable pre-buzz in the target markets for the masses”.

Helmet is where the action is
The idea of helmet back branding was first introduced by Acer during its 2016-17 stint as the official technology partner for RCB. During this period, Acer had its branding on player caps and helmets, before moving on to partner with Delhi Daredevils in 2018. HMD in 2026, truly brings back the glory days of tech brands featured as helmet logos! Somewhere in the intervening years.

Tecno, that made its way into the India market, mainly targeting entry-level smartphones for the ‘rest of us’, had its share of eyeballs on the Kings XI Punjab helmet backs before making a re-entry in 2026 on the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) helmet. Punjab and CSK encounters on the field are infamous, and Tecno becomes the first brand to make this journey, becoming a topic of coffee break conversations in corporate offices.

According to the brand, its latest release – the Tecno Spark 50 5G moves away from jargon to focus on what truly matters in the real world – dependability, endurance, performance, that keeps up through long, demanding days and unpredictable conditions. Sounds like something CSK players go through in the Chennai heat every time they have a home game!

This year, Google has heavily invested across the board in the IPL – from Google AI to Pixel. While Google AI has been gamified into broadcast and live stream content, Pixel phones find their home with Gujarat Titans as associate partners.

A bold move from Nothing
We cannot end a story on IPL brand endorsements without mentioning Nothing. Even before the new-age smartphone brand finalized its deal to become the main principal partner of RCB, the anticipation became stuff memes are made of – “Good they won the trophy before Noting came on board….” became a favourite topic of discussion even before the deal was signed. Today, Nothing finds itself on the chests of defending champions with the largest on-ground and social media following for any sport in the continent. Just before the IPL kicked off this year, Nothing opened its flagship Bengaluru store, all decked up in RCB colours, featuring the player jerseys a few days before they were officially launched. Nothing co-founder Akis Evangelidis has gone on to become the face of the RCB-Noting collaboration, often handing out player of the match awards and keenly enjoying the matches. Speaking to Open Digital, Akis was quoted as saying, ‘It goes hand-in-hand. We’ve always tried to build a brand that’s authentic and relatable – especially for younger audiences. RCB has that same energy. A strong identity, a loyal fanbase, a challenger spirit. Even their “Play Bold” philosophy – it just fits”.

Smartphone brands – old and new – have constantly leveraged the power and popularity of the IPL to connect with a community of young users, sports lovers and lifestyle trend setters. This beautiful synergy is here to stay and as we keenly watch all of it unfold, may the best team win this year!