The PCA has joined forces with world-leading players associations and FICA to reveal a new partnership with Winners Alliance.
Winners Alliance has today announced an exclusive, long-term global commercial partnership with the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA). This unprecedented collaboration with cricketers marks a significant milestone in the history of the sport. Winners Alliance will represent and manage select global group rights for more than 500 of the world’s best cricketers from FICA’s 13 country affiliates, with the goal of optimizing players’ collective commercial value through novel marketing and licensing opportunities. The partnership follows the recent aggregation and acquisition of relevant player rights via FICA’s commercial arm, FICA Global Rights Ltd, working in collaboration with players, their national associations and agents around the world.
Among its first initiatives with FICA, Winners Alliance will create a sustainable group licensing program encompassing video games, trading cards, collectibles, and various related categories. This is the first player-led and endorsed group licensing program combining the name, image and likeness (NIL) rights of professional cricketers around the world. In addition, Winners Alliance will provide direct funding to FICA, which will assist the association’s core advocacy work and ensure better protections for players globally into the future.
“We’re thrilled to team up with FICA to generate new, innovative commercial opportunities for cricketers worldwide,” said Eric Winston, President of Winners Alliance. “Cricket’s global popularity speaks for itself, and its prominence will only continue to grow. We’re excited for all the possibilities this new partnership presents, and we’re looking forward to driving untapped value to cricketers across the entire cricket ecosystem.”
Tom Moffat, Chief Executive of FICA, said: “Winners Alliance is led by the best in the world, with a proven track record of running player-led group licensing programs. We’re excited to be working with the Winners team to spearhead our first global group licensing program on behalf of cricketers worldwide. We’re also excited about the multi-sport opportunities this partnership will bring and know that Winners Alliance will be a key part of helping us to protect and optimise value for players affiliated to FICA and the game.”
Neeta Sreekanth, Chief Growth & Development Officer of Winners Alliance, added: “Winners Alliance is committed to innovation and focusing on the athlete’s best interest. This groundbreaking venture with FICA is a testament to the mission and strength of Winners Alliance. This partnership is designed to organize a previously-fragmented group rights structure in a dominant global sport, transforming it into a first-of-its-kind opportunity to work with professional cricketers around the world as a collective.”
Pat Cummins, Australia Men’s Cricket Captain, stated: “This is an amazing opportunity for cricketers globally. We’ve seen other sports and athletes benefit from and prove the success of group licensing models, including in the US sports and now in tennis. We’re really happy to be behind a new wave of collective global marketing and licensing opportunities for players and the sport through FICA and its partnership with Winners Alliance.”
Jos Buttler, England Men’s White Ball Cricket Captain, said: “Collectivising certain group commercial rights globally has made complete sense for cricketers affiliated to FICA, to help to stop unauthorised use of player image and attributes, and to generate new opportunities for players and the whole game. We’re looking forward to being part of the Winners group, and to other athletes joining the cricketers and tennis players in time.”
Sophie Devine, New Zealand Women’s Cricket Captain, added: “Players increasingly understand the benefits and importance of working together collectively across countries through FICA and we can’t wait to see what new and player-centric opportunities Winners Alliance generates.”
FICA is the second players association to team up with Winners Alliance since its establishment in 2022. Winners Alliance focuses on optimizing, protecting, and maximizing athletes’ collective value through the creation of novel, athlete-centric group licensing, partnership, sponsorship, content, event and investment opportunities. Following the collaboration with the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) in August 2022, Winners Alliance pioneered the first-ever group licensing program in professional tennis history. This initiative has led to various opportunities for tennis players globally, partnering with premier brands such as Fanatics Collectibles (Topps), TUMI, and La-Roche Posay.