HMD elevates Rajasthan royals partnership to associate sponsor in third consecutive season

Introduction

In indian cricket sponsorship, renewing a partnership is common. Upgrading it is a statement. HMD has announced its third consecutive year of association with rajasthan royals — and this time, the brand is stepping up from official smartphone partner to associate sponsor. The timing is deliberate. With a new smartphone launch building pre-buzz in target markets, HMD is using one of franchise cricket's most recognisable teams to amplify its brand presence exactly when it needs maximum visibility. For marketers watching india's sports sponsorship landscape, this move is worth examining closely.

What just happened

HMD has confirmed the renewal and elevation of its partnership with rajasthan royals ahead of the upcoming season. Now entering its third year, the association has been upgraded from official smartphone partner to associate sponsor — a meaningful step up in both commercial commitment and brand visibility.

The most tangible expression of this elevated partnership is helmet branding. HMD's logo will feature on the back of rajasthan royals' helmets during matches — a placement that delivers consistent, high-visibility exposure across every broadcast angle, highlight reel, and stadium screen throughout the season. Helmet branding occupies a uniquely prominent position in cricket's visual grammar. Unlike jersey logos that may be obscured by fielding positions or camera angles, helmet branding appears repeatedly during batting sequences — the moments that generate the highest viewership and social media engagement.

Ravi kunwar, VP and CEO of HMD india and APAC, described the renewed association as more than a branding exercise — framing it as a connection between HMD's positioning around rugged, reliable technology and rajasthan royals' reputation for grit and performance. He also confirmed that the partnership coincides directly with an upcoming smartphone launch, with pre-launch buzz already building in key target markets.

Alok chitre, chief operating officer of rajasthan royals, highlighted the alignment between the two brands — positioning the partnership as a shared energy that extends fan engagement well beyond stadium boundaries and into the global supporter base that rajasthan royals has built over its cricketing history.

The numbers behind the news

Franchise cricket in india has evolved into one of the most commercially sophisticated sports media properties in the world. The league attracts a broadcast and digital audience that spans india and multiple international markets — making it a uniquely efficient platform for consumer brands seeking both scale and engagement in a single sponsorship vehicle.

For a smartphone brand like HMD, the strategic calculus is straightforward. Cricket's primary viewing demographic — young, digitally connected, aspirationally minded consumers across urban and semi-urban india — maps almost perfectly onto the target audience for a mid-range smartphone launch. Sponsorship of a franchise team during an active season provides weeks of sustained brand visibility across television, digital streaming, social media highlights, and out-of-home cricket coverage — a media mix that would cost significantly more to replicate through conventional advertising alone.

The upgrade from official smartphone partner to associate sponsor signals that HMD's first two years of association delivered measurable returns. Brands do not increase sponsorship investment without evidence of performance. The fact that HMD has chosen to deepen the relationship rather than simply renew it at the same level is a strong commercial endorsement of the partnership's effectiveness.

India's sports economy crossed the two billion dollar mark in 2025, with sponsorship spends growing steadily. Within this expanding ecosystem, franchise cricket remains the dominant driver — and brands that have built multi-year associations with established teams benefit from the compounding effect of audience familiarity and brand recall that single-season sponsorships simply cannot achieve.

The brands.in perspective

The most interesting detail in this announcement is not the sponsorship upgrade — it is the smartphone launch timing. HMD is not just buying cricket visibility for brand awareness. It is using a high-attention sporting moment to create commercial momentum for a specific product launch. That is a more sophisticated use of sports sponsorship than most consumer tech brands manage in india. Helmet branding during a cricket season means the HMD logo appears in millions of frames of broadcast footage, social clips, and editorial photography — all at the precise moment the brand wants indian consumers thinking about its next device. When sports sponsorship is integrated this tightly into a product launch strategy, it stops being a marketing cost and starts being a sales accelerator. That is the shift indian brand teams need to be making more consistently.

Key takeaways for marketers

• HMD upgrades its rajasthan royals association from official smartphone partner to associate sponsor in year three.
• Helmet branding provides consistent high-visibility placement across broadcasts, highlights, and social content.
• The partnership is timed to coincide directly with an upcoming HMD smartphone launch.
• Multi-year cricket sponsorships deliver compounding brand recall that single-season deals cannot replicate.
• Franchise cricket remains the most commercially efficient sports media platform for consumer brands in india.
• Brand-sport alignment — rugged reliable tech mirroring the team's grit — strengthens the association's credibility.

Faq section

Q: What has changed in HMD's partnership with rajasthan royals this year? HMD has upgraded its role from official smartphone partner to associate sponsor, marking the third consecutive year of the association. The most visible change is helmet branding — HMD's logo will now appear on the back of rajasthan royals' helmets during matches, significantly increasing on-field brand visibility.

Q: Why is helmet branding significant in cricket sponsorship? Helmet branding is one of the most consistently visible placements in cricket broadcasting. It appears prominently during batting sequences — the highest-viewership moments in any match — and features across broadcast angles, close-up shots, and social media highlight clips, delivering repeated brand exposure throughout the season.

Q: How does this sponsorship connect to HMD's product strategy? HMD has confirmed that the rajasthan royals partnership coincides with an upcoming smartphone launch, with pre-launch interest already building in target markets. The brand is using the high-attention cricket season to amplify product awareness and consumer excitement at the precise moment it needs commercial momentum.

Closing cta

Sports sponsorship in india is evolving from logo placement to fully integrated brand strategy — and HMD's rajasthan royals partnership is a strong example of what that looks like in practice. Which consumer tech brand do you think is making the smartest use of cricket sponsorship right now? Share your view in the comments below, and follow brands.in for daily intelligence on india's most impactful brand partnerships and sports marketing moves.