Mumbai Indians (MI), the five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions, have announced a partnership with a famous Japanese anime series, Pokémon.
Following this deal, Pokémon has been named the official partner of MI for IPL 2024.
The news of the collaboration was shared via the team’s social media platforms. The post said, “Pokémon 🤝 Mumbai Indians. We’re ecstatic to announce our official alliance for the season! Ready to explore new territories and capture victories together! 🏆💙”
Susumu Fukunaga, Corporate Officer at The Pokémon Company, said, “Cricket is the most popular sport in India and getting a chance to showcase Pokémon at the famous Wankhede Stadium in collaboration with the Mumbai Indians has enabled us to highlight Pokémon’s presence to a wide variety of audience. This is a one-of-a-kind collaboration for us. We are delighted to see the excitement and smiles on visitors’ faces when they meet Pikachu and receive the free goodies.”
A Mumbai Indians spokesperson, said, “We’re thrilled to welcome Pokémon as a partner of the Mumbai Indians Family, providing them with a platform to connect and celebrate the shared passion that both MI and our paltan have for cricket and Pokémon.”
With this announcement, MI’s list of sponsors including Kaspersky, Goldi Solar, Astral Pipes, Skechers, and playR, grows even further.
Pokémon, truncated from the Japanese term Pocket Monsters and now labelled in English as Pokémon the Series, is a Japanese anime television series that debuted on TV Tokyo in April 1997 as an element of the Pokémon Company’s Pokémon media empire. The brand also includes trading cards, online games, and much more.
The Hardik Pandya-led unit will play its first game on Sunday, March 24, against Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Narendra Modi Stadium at 7:30 PM IST.