Kolkata Knight Riders have strengthened their commercial portfolio ahead of the 2026 season of the Indian Premier League, onboarding Google Pay and Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) as official partners.
Under the agreement, Google Pay has been named the franchise’s payment partner, while BGMI has joined as an official partner, marking a dual push into fintech and gaming-led fan engagement. The partnerships were announced through the team’s official digital channels in the lead-up to IPL 2026.
Google Pay’s association is expected to centre around transaction-led integrations, including ticketing, merchandise purchases, and promotional campaigns designed to drive user engagement during the tournament. By embedding itself into key fan touchpoints, the platform aims to capitalise on the IPL’s scale to strengthen usage within India’s competitive UPI ecosystem.
BGMI’s inclusion highlights the franchise’s focus on younger, mobile-first audiences. Gaming collaborations have become an increasingly important lever for sports teams, enabling interactive campaigns, in-game activations, and content crossovers that extend fan engagement beyond matchdays.
Seddharth Merrotra, Head of Business Development and Partnerships, KRAFTON India, said, “Every cricket fan in India has lived a version of these stories – the chaos, the arguments, the moment the match turns and suddenly none of it matters anymore. We wanted these films to feel true to that experience, not just as a tribute to two incredible franchises, but as a genuine celebration of what Indian fandom looks and sounds like. CSK and KKR represent two very different cultures, two very different cities — but the passion is identical. And BGMI is the place where both of those worlds now come together.”
The additions further diversify KKR’s sponsorship roster, which already features Vida (Hero MotoCorp), Disha Eye Hospitals, and SIX5SIX. The partnership is expected to unlock new fan engagement opportunities through rewards, offers, and transaction-led activations during the tournament.
From a broader industry perspective, the deal highlights the increasing importance of payments platforms in live sports environments, where controlling the transaction layer offers brands direct access to fan behaviour and consumption patterns.
On the field, Kolkata Knight Riders enter IPL 2026 with one of the most strategically assembled squads. The franchise went into the auction with the league’s highest purse of ₹64.30 crore, building a 25-player roster centred on all-round depth and a balanced bowling unit.
Among the headline acquisitions were Australia’s Cameron Green and Sri Lanka’s Matheesha Pathirana, while the team retained a strong core featuring Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy and Rinku Singh.
KKR will open their IPL 2026 campaign on March 29 against Mumbai Indians, as they look to convert both on-field momentum and off-field commercial strength into a competitive season.
