Lions lair now DP World Wanderers Stadium

Article posted by Coliseum, October 28^th, 2022

Image: DP World Wanderers Stadium (@WanderersZA on Twitter)

The Lions cricket franchise – a domestic South African cricket franchise – launched their 2022-2023 seasons in style at the iconic Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg (South Africa) on October 13^th and officially unveiled their headline and naming rights sponsorship deal with DP World (Emirati multinational logistics company).

‘City Press’ stated that the partnership will see the leading international logistics giants replace Imperial on the front shirt of the Lions men’s and women’s teams ahead of the new season.

The DP World Lions is a professional cricket team in Johannesburg, Gauteng (South Africa). Their home venue is the DP World Wanderers Stadium. The team plays in the CSA 4-Day Series first class cricket competition as well as in the Momentum 1 Day Cup, CSA Provincial T20 Knock-Out Competition, and CSA T20 Challenge limited over competitions.

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The 34,000-capacity DP World Wanderers Stadium is a stadium situated just South of Sandton in Illovo, Johannesburg in Gauteng Province, South Africa. Test, One Day and First class cricket matches are played here. It is the home digs of the DP World Lions.

Dubai (UAE)-based DP World is an Emirati multinational logistics company based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It specializes in cargo logistics, port terminal operations, maritime services, and free trade zones.

The teams are now officially called the DP World Lions and their home venue will be known as the DP World Wanderers Stadium.

‘City Press’ further stated that in 2019, the Lions and Imperial signed a five-year term and stadium naming rights deal that saw the franchise called the Imperial Lions and their stadium named Imperial Wanderers.

But, as a result of the 100 percent acquisition of Imperial Logistics Limited by the Dubai-based DP World Logistics in March, the Lions and Wanderers brand has now transitioned from Imperial to DP World.

The Lions team and stadium naming rights is a continuation of a trend that has seen the Johannesburg-based franchise and its home venue, the Wanderers, change names due to sponsorship reasons.

The Lions and the Wanderers have had iconic names, including Liberty Life, Bizhub, Bidvest, Imperial, and now DP World, attached to them in the past two decades.

Besides DP World, the Lions have other commercial deals with over 20 South African companies.

The Lions have rewarded the commercial backing over the years with good results and silverware as it is a norm for them to win at least one trophy per season now.

The glittering event on October 13^th to announce the sponsorships started on the pitch where players, journalists and other guests were shown around the newly branded stadium.

The United Arab Emirates Ambassador to South Africa, His Excellency Mahash Saeed Alhameli, was in attendance.

The DP World signage is hard to miss as it screams all over the 34,000-seater stadium nicknamed ‘the Bullring’ for its design and intimidating atmosphere.

The festivities then moved up to the Long Room, the Presidential suites of the venue, where formal speeches were made, and the players paraded the new yellow-and-white home-and-away playing shirts.

DP World has other sponsorship and partnership deals in cricket and golf.

Following over a decade of support for the European Tour, DP World became the official title partner of the competition ahead of the 2022 season in a bid to herald a new era in golf.

In 2020, DP World signed a long-term deal to be on the back of the shirts of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) (India) as its global logistics partner.

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