New team partnerships

Indian Premier League team tie-ups widened this week, with Punjab Kings, SunRisers Hyderabad and OpenAI each adding new 2026 season marketing plays. (telanganatoday.com) Zelio E-Mobility said it signed on as Punjab Kings’ official electric vehicle partner for the 2026 season, with the deal spanning digital campaigns, branding rights and stadium activations. The company’s own announcement said the partnership was formalized on March 30, 2026, and framed it as Zelio’s first cricket sponsorship. (telanganatoday.com) Lubi Industries said it will continue as principal sponsor of SunRisers Hyderabad for 2026 after an earlier association, describing the renewal as part of a longer-term brand and performance push. Coverage of the deal said Lubi plans integrated marketing around the team and highlighted the company’s businesses in pumps, motors, valves, heating and cooling systems, solar products and electric vehicle charging equipment. (themachinemaker.com) OpenAI, meanwhile, launched an India campaign tied to the tournament, running from April 13 to May 31 and built around seven short films set in different Indian Premier League home cities. Trade publications said the campaign includes fan integrations across five franchises and a “ChatGPT Match IQ Award” tied to match moments. (storyboard18.com) These deals land in the middle of the 2026 Indian Premier League season, which multiple outlets reported began on March 28. Sponsor trackers published ahead of the season also showed teams continuing to add category-specific partners beyond front-of-jersey and title-style placements. (cricketnews.com) The categories in this week’s announcements are notably broad: electric two-wheelers and charging-linked manufacturing on one side, and consumer artificial intelligence marketing on the other. That mix shows franchises still selling not just shirt space, but team access, digital inventory and in-stadium fan contact points. (telanganatoday.com) For Punjab Kings, the Zelio deal gives the team a mobility brand that said it has more than 350 dealer stores and a customer base of more than 200,000 riders in India. Zelio’s release said the company expects the tie-up to raise visibility in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and other markets where it already sells. (zelioebikes.com) For SunRisers Hyderabad, Lubi’s renewal extends a business-to-business industrial brand’s use of cricket as a mass-reach platform. Public statements around the deal emphasized consistency and reliability rather than a one-season splash, suggesting the company is treating the franchise as a repeat media vehicle, not a trial run. (themachinemaker.com) OpenAI’s campaign is different in form but aimed at the same audience scale: trade reports said the films focus on everyday uses of ChatGPT across work, education and daily tasks, while the cricket tie-ins place the brand inside live fan culture rather than only standard advertising slots. (storyboard18.com) Taken together, the week’s announcements show Indian Premier League partnerships in 2026 stretching well past logo placement, with brands buying storylines, activations and repeated touchpoints across the season. (telanganatoday.com)