Westpac targets migrants from cricket nations in $40m sponsorship deal

Banking giant Westpac is attempting to win more business from newly arrived migrants from cricket-playing countries such as India, as it also tries to raise brand awareness nationally, under a new sponsorship deal with Cricket Australia.

The bank’s boss, Anthony Miller, a sports fan, on Thursday unveiled a deal in which Westpac will replace its biggest rival, the Commonwealth Bank, as lead sponsor of Australian cricket.

Australian cricketers will be sponsored by Westpac, from left to right: Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc, Alyssa Healy, Ashleigh Gardner and Sam Konstas.Credit: Cricket Australia

The deal – foreshadowed late last year – means Westpac’s logo will appear on the shirts of the men’s and women’s teams across the Test, one-day and Twenty20 format for all games played in Australia, including the Ashes series this summer.

Westpac did not say how much it was spending on the sponsorship, but it is believed to be worth about $40 million over four years.

Miller said the bank was drawn to cricket because it was an “iconic community game right around the country”, and added it was targeting customers from India, where cricket is hugely popular, and South-East Asia.

“We get to participate with community right across Australia. There is no doubt that its appeal to India, and visitors and immigrants from India and South-East Asia is incredibly appealing for us. We want to win that business and target that particular market. But first and foremost it’s anchored around the fact it’s Australia’s game, it’s a community game and we’re Australia’s oldest bank,” he said.

Miller has a keen interest in sport – two of his siblings have competed at the Olympics and his daughter Desiree is a winger for Australia’s women’s rugby team the Wallaroos.

The Sydney-based bank, which already sponsors the NRL, also hopes the deal can help raise awareness of its brand in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, where AFL is the dominant football code.

Head of sponsorship Pat Cunningham said the bank had seen the impact of its NRL deal in NSW and Queensland, and there had been an ambition to find a deal to support its plans in Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia. He added that the cricket deal could also help the bank reach newly arrived migrants from cricket-playing nations.

“We talk about India, but there’s also the UK and New Zealand. They’re markets where we see a lot of people coming to Australia, and they’re obviously cricketing nations as well,” Cunningham said.

Banks compete keenly to sign up new migrants as customers, and the Indian-born population in Australia is the second-largest migrant community after people born in the United Kingdom, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade says.

The Australia A men’s team wore Westpac logos on their shirts for a one-day international game against Sri Lanka in July.Credit: Cricket Australia

The deal comes after a 37-year commercial relationship between CBA and cricket. However, CBA had been increasingly focused on the women’s teams, and this was accelerated by the “sandpaper gate” ball-tampering scandal in 2018.

When Cricket Australia last year confirmed it was moving away from CBA as a key sponsor, CBA released a statement saying it was keen to continue the relationship, but Cricket Australia had “decided on commercial grounds to go in a different direction”.

At the same time Westpac has been increasing its investment in its brand, following a period in which the bank was more inward-looking and focused on risk management after a massive money laundering compliance scandal in 2019.

Emeritus Professor of cultural research David Rowe, from Western Sydney University, said big corporations such as banks struck sport sponsorship deals as a way of trying to connect with the “feel-good” emotions people had towards sport.

“They are not the most loved institutions, and sport is. I don’t think there’s quite the same deep emotion towards cricket in Australia that there once was, but it’s still very powerful and we see that in the Ashes series coming up,” he said.

Westpac said the deal would include support for local clubs, measures to create new opportunities for women to get involved in cricket, and support for First Nations cricket talent. The bank would also be the presenting partner of the National Cricket Inclusion Championship and any international disability series in Australia.

Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg said: “This partnership represents a shared commitment to making a positive impact on the field and in the community. We aim to elevate the experience of fans and participants and, together, grow the game.”

With Dan Walsh

The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning.