Global money transfer and payment services provider MoneyGram has extended its sponsorship agreement with the Int'l Cricket Council "for an additional eight years," according to Urvi Malvania of the Indian BUSINESS STANDARD. Through this agreement, "the company will sponsor all tournaments sanctioned by cricket’s governing body and other associated events" until the end of '23. MoneyGram "first associated with ICC in 2010 through a five-year contract that included sponsorship of the 2011 and 2015 World Cup tournaments." The focus for MoneyGram is to "reach out to expats" from India in countries that have strong affiliation with cricket (U.K., Australia, etc.) and also markets like the U.S., "where cricket is not among the top sports." MoneyGram Exec VP and CMO Juan Agualimpia said, "The Indian expats residing in the U.S. differ from those in the U.K. and Middle East in terms of how long they have been there and the kind of work they do. However, two things are common -- they send money home (to India) and they are most likely cricket fans. Through the ICC sponsorship, we want to marry these two common factors and become the most preferred money transfer service." While details of the financials were not available, Agualimpia said that "the monies invested for this association are part of the global marketing budget, which is five percent of the annual budget." While the sponsorship deal "will give MoneyGram visibility in terms of on-ground and on-air advertising, the company also intends to engage audiences on the ground." For example, in the U.S., it has "launched something called MoneyGram Cricket Club which interacts and engages as many as 4,000 amateur cricket clubs which comprise mostly of south Asian expats in the U.S." (BUSINESS STANDARD, 1/11).
