Apollo Tyres faces BCCI sponsor curse after Oppo, Vivo

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced its newest sponsor, Apollo Tyres, and the internet hasn’t taken even a minute to react. No sooner was the deal made public than meme pages declared the “death of Apollo,” joking that another company has just walked into the cursed whirlpool of sponsoring Indian cricket. At first glance, it might seem like harmless trolling, but if you look at the unlucky list of past sponsors, maybe the jokes aren’t that far from the truth.

Because let’s face it—every brand that has proudly placed its name across the Indian jersey has eventually ended up in some sort of trouble. The sponsorship was always supposed to be the golden ticket: a chance to be visible to over a billion cricket-obsessed fans, millions of TV viewers, and a chance to be forever linked with cricketing glory. But instead of fortune, companies only seem to find financial headaches, regulatory scrutiny, or the slow sinking feeling that no matter how many runs India scores, their bank balance is being drained faster than Jasprit Bumrah’s yorker clears the stumps.

Take Oppo, for example. The phone maker thought sponsoring Team India would cement its presence in the Indian market. For a while, the bright green Oppo name sat proudly on the jerseys, right there under Virat Kohli’s collarbone. But the joy didn’t last. Oppo soon backed out of the contract, citing financial pressures, and transferred the deal to Byju’s. It’s almost like the company woke up one day, checked the cost sheet, and said, “Actually… never mind.”

Then came Vivo. Another phone giant, another glittering sponsorship. If Oppo stumbled, surely Vivo would cruise? Not really. With regulatory pressure, dips in sales, and rising competition from other brands, Vivo eventually found the cricket connection more of a burden than a boost. Like a batsman who walks out looking confident and then edges the first ball to the slip cordon, Vivo’s innings with Indian cricket ended abruptly.

And then Dream11 arrived. A fantasy sports platform sponsoring the real sport—it was supposed to be a match made in heaven. But instead of chasing boundaries, Dream11 found itself tackled by watchdogs and a maze of fines and tax probes. What began as a dreamy partnership slowly turned into a regulatory nightmare. For a while, it became the running joke of the sponsorship saga: “Dream11 dreamt too much.”

So now, all eyes turn to Apollo Tyres. A company that makes products literally built to survive potholes, sharp turns, and scorching Indian roads has volunteered to face the sponsorship pothole. Social media, of course, is already preparing the eulogy. Memes of half-buried tyres, cracked rubber, and punctured dreams are circulating faster than Shubman Gill strike rates. Internet comedians claim that Apollo has “entered the chat only to enter the grave.” Harsh? Perhaps. But when history has shown Oppo, Vivo, and Dream11 limp off with bruised accounts, people can’t help but see Apollo as the next casualty.

The logic isn’t entirely supernatural. Sponsoring cricket in India isn’t a cheap billboard—it’s an insanely costly branding exercise. The sponsorship fees themselves are sky-high, but that’s just the beginning. Add on campaigns, endless TV ads, branding exercises, and tie-ups, and soon the sponsor is burning enough cash to make an accountant dizzy. On top of that, the Indian cricket calendar is so packed that brand visibility starts to blend into background noise. When every ball, every tournament, and every jersey is stuffed with logos, it’s hard for one name—no matter how big—to stand out.

And let’s not forget the cruelest twist: sponsors inherit cricket’s image swings. When India wins, nobody thanks the sponsor. But when India loses, fans crack jokes about the logo on the shirt, as if the tyre company or the phone maker were the ones missing the catches. It’s free publicity, but not always the kind a company hopes for.

Apollo now stands at the top of this sponsorship highway, headlights pointed forward. Maybe its tyres will roll smoothly, proving all the meme-makers wrong. Or maybe, like every sponsor before, it will skid spectacularly into the ditch of financial regret. For now, the internet isn’t betting on Apollo’s survival. Shares, balance sheets and boardrooms will reveal the truth in time, but trolls already have their popcorn ready to welcome Apollo into the “RIP sponsor club.” Because in Indian cricket, it isn’t just about runs and wickets anymore. There’s another scoreboard that fans track with grim amusement: which company will collapse next after daring to sponsor the team. And according to the internet, Apollo’s number is already up.

With inputs from agencies

Image Source: Multiple agencies