Australian cricket team caught in glaring sponsorship problem as World Cup kicks off
The Aussies will head into the ODI World Cup without a major sponsor.
The Australian team will head into the Cricket World Cup without a major front of shirt sponsor, in what poses a bizarre look on the international stage. The Aussies have played their warm-up games and conducted pre-tournament media commitments with their chests noticeably bare of a sponsor.
The Australian women's team have Commonwealth Bank as their front of shirt sponsor, and the men's team had Qantas during their recent ODI tours of South Africa and India. But the deal with Qantas evidently doesn't extend to the World Cup, meaning there's a glaring hole on the Aussie uniform.
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According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Cricket Australia are prepared to wait until just before the summer of cricket to announce a new major sponsor. The Australian men's team were previously sponsored by Alinta Energy, but that deal ended in somewhat controversial circumstances.
Last year, Aussie captain Pat Cummins had voiced his concerns about Alinta’s parent company - Pioneer Sail Holdings - and their vast carbon emissions. Pioneer Sail Holdings are said to be a large carbon emitter, which is bad for the environment and planet in general.
In October last year, Cricket Australia and Alinta announced that a five-year, $40 million partnership formed in 2018 would not be renewed, and it ended in June this year. That came after Cummins, who is a member of the Cricket for Climate group, decided not to appear in a TV commercial for Alinta and spoke out about companies who aren't doing their bit for the environment.
Pat Cummins blasts 'absolute rubbish' sponsorship claims
In January, Cummins blasted claims he cost Cricket Australia the $40 million deal, saying it was "absolute rubbish" to suggest he put any pressure on the governing body to end the deal. According to reports, Cricket Australia wouldn't have renewed the deal anyway.
"We have seen certain players make decisions based on religions, or certain foods they eat, where they won't partner with specific partners," Cummins said. "Every organisation has a responsibility to do what's right for the sport and what they think is right for the organisation, and I hope society when it moves forward. It is a balance when you make decisions about who you are going to welcome into the cricket family."
Cummins has proven highly divisive amongst the Australian public during his time as Aussie captain. Many older Australians have labelled him "too woke", although he is widely adored in younger generations.
“The nature of the position I am in, you do get dragged into different things," he said. "It was one of those moments you have to live with people you don’t know having opinions about you.”
“I am not doing things to please absolutely everyone. Steve Jobs said he would go and sell ice cream if he wanted to do that.’ My generation and people around that are passionate about different things. They are open-minded to things … some people can’t leave those values at the door. They can’t walk past those values. If that creates different conversations maybe that is a good thing."
Companies wary of negativity from athlete backlash
The Australian reported earlier this year that the furore around the Alinta deal could affect that price the Cricket Australia garners from major sponsors going forward. According to the report, one unnamed betting company backed out of seeking sponsorships in Australia due a number of instances in which players have expressed concerns about companies.
In November last year, Aussie netballer Donnell Wallam expressed concerns about a $15 million partnership between Netball Australia and Hancock Prospecting. A Noongar woman from Western Australia, Wallam had raised concerns about historical comments made by Gina Rinehart's later father and the company's former chair Lang Hancock about Indigenous people.
Wallam was reportedly uncomfortable about wearing the company's logo on her Diamonds uniform, and teammates supported her stance. Rinehart and Hancock Prospecting later withdew the $15 million sponsorship, which came as a crushing blow for the cash-strapped sport after the Covid pandemic resulted in large losses.
The Victorian government later stepped in with a $15 million deal of its own with Netball Australia. In February, the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) also announced it would top up netball's funding by $9.4 million.
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