Two powerhouses of the sporting world, fantasy sports platform Dream11 and global sports brand Puma, have partnered up to create a unique, exciting and exclusive athleisure collection in India that will include t-shirts, flip flops, caps and other attire.
The idea behind the collection was originally for it to be launched in conjunction with the IPL season. However, since the IPL has been postponed, the collection will be made available during India’s upcoming T20 World Cup.
Cricket, the IPL, and the T20 World Cup are very important in India, especially since the country is considered a favourite to win the competition on home soil. Fans interested in cricket can find match predictions and free betting tips for one of the world’s biggest tournaments on many online cricket betting sites like 1xBet.
Dream11 is a massive fantasy sports platform with over 100 million users registered to date. It was the first Indian company to achieve unicorn status, which is when a privately-owned company reaches a valuation of $1-billion or more.
To achieve this success, the company has leaned heavily on partnerships. For example, in 2017, it teamed up with three major leagues in three of the biggest sports in the world, namely the Indian Super League football competition, the Caribbean Premier League cricket extravaganza and the National Basketball Association (NBA) in America.
In 2018, it went a level higher by arranging partnerships with official governing bodies of sporting codes such as the International Cricket Council and the International Hockey Federation while continuing its support of cricket by teaming up with the Big Bash League in Australia.
With so much of its success having been built on partnerships, it makes much sense for the company to seek out something similar in its first big to engage with fans and users on its platform offline with a range of clothing and sportswear. It also coincides perfectly with the growing demand for athleisure apparel in India, which is believed to be growing at about 20per cent per year.
Aside from the summer cricket-inspired clothing, there will also be an autumn-winter range released just in time for the T20 World Cup with the catchy slogan “Dream It. Own It”. All apparel will be available online via the FanCode shop or offline at Puma Stores around the country.
“We are excited to launch our first athleisure collection along with PUMA, the largest sports brand in India. PUMA shares our belief in making sports better for all, and we are certain that this collaboration will strengthen Dream11’s offline brand affinity and loyalty. We are sure that this sporty collection will resonate with both our 100 million users and PUMA brand champions,” said Dream11 and Dream Sports CEO and co-founder Harsh Jain.
For Puma, the arrangement makes a ton of sense for many reasons, but you don’t need to look much beyond Dream11’s 100-million-plus users to understand why it is a desirable proposition to team up with this unicorn. Additionally, according to Puma’s managing director of India and Southeast Asia, Abhishek Ganguly, the two companies have a lot in common.
“Dream11 and PUMA share a common vision to grow the culture of sports in India. As pioneers of fantasy sports in the country, they understand the pulse of sports enthusiasts and have been powering this ecosystem by giving fans a platform to follow, track and actively engage with the game. We are happy to partner with Dream11 to launch their first athleisure collection. Creating an exclusive PUMAxDream11 range will give their 100 million users access to sport-inspired merchandise infused with PUMA DNA,” he said.
