Media Releases

MasterCard joins cricket's elite in Johnnie Walker Super Series sponsorship

MasterCard, the leading global payments solutions company, has joined forces with the ICC to become an Official Partner of October's Johnnie Walker Super Series.

Mark Harrison
19-Aug-2005
MasterCard, the leading global payments solutions company, has joined forces with the ICC to become an Official Partner of October's Johnnie Walker Super Series. The agreement marks the first commercial association between one of the world's mostly widely recognised card brands and an ICC cricket event.
The Johnnie Walker Super Series will see world champion team Australia take on specially selected ICC World XI teams in three official One Day Internationals at Melbourne's Telstra Dome on 5, 7 and 9 October, followed by a six-day Super Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground from 14 to 19 October.
ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed said that attracting the support of MasterCard was a substantial coup for the event: "It is a powerful endorsement of cricket's popularity that this new event has been successful in attracting the support of a major international brand like MasterCard. The ICC is extremely fortunate in having the long term commitment of a number of major commercial partners, but it is also very rewarding that we can attract new partners of the status and calibre of MasterCard to the international game."
Commenting on the new partnership, Nitin Gupta, vice president and general manager, South Asia, MasterCard International, said, "Cricket is the pulse of our nation, a sport that cuts across all customer segments. The ICC has put together a unique tournament where for the first time the world's best cricketers are pitted against the world's best team and the stakes are high. This promises to be a thrilling contest watched by millions and MasterCard hopes to derive significant benefit for its Brand and for its customers from this association. MasterCard is already strongly associated internationally with the FIFA World Cup soccer and this is our first big sponsorship of a world-class cricket event. We look forward to more such priceless associations in the future."
MasterCard becomes the latest high profile Official Partner for the event, joining Hero Honda, Emirates Airline and ABN AMRO, whose commercial involvement has been confirmed recently.
With more than 679 million cards issued last year, MasterCard is one of the world's most widely recognised credit and debit card brands. There are 24.6 million acceptance locations for MasterCard around the world and the company has a network of more than 23,000 financial institution customers across its seven global regions.