{"id":48302,"date":"2026-06-05T21:28:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T19:28:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.licensingitalia.it\/?p=48302"},"modified":"2026-06-05T21:30:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T19:30:10","slug":"icc-x-sanrio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.licensingitalia.it\/en\/icc-x-sanrio\/","title":{"rendered":"ICC x Sanrio"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>The International Cricket Council (ICC)<\/strong> and <strong>Sanrio<\/strong> today announced a landmark global licensing and merchandising partnership bringing Hello Kitty and Friends into the world of international Cricket for the first time. The partnership launched in conjunction with the <strong>ICC Women\u2019s T20 World Cup 2026<\/strong> to be held in England and Wales from 12 June to 5 July, marks a significant \u2018fan first\u2019 collaboration, signalling ICC\u2019s commitment to placing new generations of fans, particularly young audiences, at the heart of the sport\u2019s next chapter of growth.<\/p>\n<p>The announcement was made today during a private event held at The Oval in London that was attended by <strong>ICC Chief Executive Sanjog Gupta and Silvia Figini, Chief Operating Officer, Sanrio EMEA, India and Oceania and Mr. Men Worldwide.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The partnership will span multiple touchpoints for the expression of fandom, with licensed merchandise, in-venue activations, digital and social content and co-branded fan experiences. The first phase of the roll-out entails a series of activities during the upcoming ICC Women\u2019s T20 World Cup, ranging from photo opportunities to a dedicated digital campaign designed to bring the excitement of women\u2019s cricket to ICC\u2019s and Sanrio\u2019s audiences. Sanrio\u2019s beloved characters from Hello Kitty and Friends will appear across a range of specially designed products and collectibles, woven together with the energy and colour of Women\u2019s T20 Cricket.<\/p>\n<p>The ICC\u2019s stated objective of taking the game beyond traditional markets and fan cohorts to firmly establish Cricket as a global game aligns well with <strong>Hello Kitty<\/strong>\u2019s status as a global lifestyle brand, capable of connecting with audiences across cultures, passions and generations. As Cricket continues its journey of global growth, partnerships such as this play an important role in connecting with audiences through their existing passions and interest, helping build stronger connections with the sport and the culture around it.<\/p>\n<p>The collaboration marks a new chapter for Sanrio\u2019s <strong>#bestfriendsinsport campaign<\/strong>, which is playing a critical role for Sanrio strategy in 2026 and aims to promote the link between the company\u2019s core values \u2014 kindness, connection and friendship \u2014 and sport.<\/p>\n<p>The partnership also aims to increase the visibility of women\u2019s cricket and attract the attention of new audiences &#8211; particularly Gen Z and Millennials &#8211; inspiring them to engage with the sport in both established and emerging markets. It also provides overlapping fans of the sport and the brand touchpoints for deepened engagement.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>ICC Chief Executive Sanjog Gupta said:<\/strong> \u201cAt its core, the ICC-Sanrio partnership is about creating moments of joy, belonging and culture for a generation of fans who may discover Cricket for the first time or may not have fallen in love with the sport yet. We don\u2019t just want to fill stadia and attract audiences but unleash passions and build relationships. We want to make sure that the game earns their attention, love and long-term affiliation. Hello Kitty has been a symbol of friendship, kindness and creativity for young people around the world. Those values sit at the heart of what Women\u2019s Cricket stands for too. Together, we have an extraordinary opportunity to speak to young girls and boys everywhere and say \u2013 this game is made for you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe ICC Women\u2019s T20 World Cup 2026 provides the ideal global platform for the launch of this partnership. Our ambition is to make this the biggest women\u2019s sporting event ever and we are committed to delivering moments, memories, magic and meaning to millions of fans worldwide, which we believe this partnership will contribute significantly to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Silvia Figini, Chief Operating Officer, Sanrio EMEA, India and Oceania and Mr. Men Worldwide, said:<\/strong> \u201cThis partnership marks the beginning of a new chapter for our #bestfriendsinsport campaign. Sport has always been a natural environment where Sanrio\u2019s and Hello Kitty and Friends\u2019 values can truly thrive: in team sports like cricket, success comes only when people trust, support and respect one another \u2014 and that is when real harmony and achievement are created.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe ICC Women\u2019s T20 World Cup perfectly reflects our vision of \u2018One World, Connecting Smiles\u2019, bringing together athletes and fans from different countries and cultures through a shared passion. Through this collaboration, we hope to inspire new generations to discover the world of cricket while also showing how kindness, friendship and teamwork are values that matter both on and off the field.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Cricket enthusiasts and Sanrio fans will be greeted by Hello Kitty and Friends and involved in several activities during the following matches:<\/p>\n<p>\u25cf Friday 12 June: England v Sri Lanka, Edgbaston \u2013 18:30 BST<br \/>\n\u25cf Sunday 14 June: India v Pakistan, Edgbaston \u2013 14:30 BST<br \/>\n\u25cf Sunday 28 June: Australia v India, Lord&#8217;s Cricket Ground &#8211; 14:30 BST<br \/>\n\u25cf Tuesday 30 June: 1st Semi-Final, The Oval, London 14:30 BST<br \/>\n\u25cf Thursday, 2 July;: 2nd Semi-Final, The Oval, London 18:30 BST<br \/>\n\u25cf Sunday 5 July: Final , Lord\u2019s Cricket Ground \u2013 14:30 BST<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The International Cricket Council (ICC) and Sanrio today announced a landmark global licensing and merchandising partnership bringing Hello Kitty and Friends into the world of international Cricket for the first time. The partnership launched in conjunction with the ICC Women\u2019s T20 World Cup 2026 to be held in England and Wales from 12 June to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":48305,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>ICC x Sanrio - Licensing Italia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The International Cricket Council (ICC) and Sanrio today announced a landmark global licensing and merchandising partnership bringing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.licensingitalia.it\/en\/icc-x-sanrio\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ICC x Sanrio - Licensing Italia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The International Cricket Council (ICC) and Sanrio today announced a landmark global licensing and merchandising partnership bringing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.licensingitalia.it\/en\/icc-x-sanrio\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Licensing Italia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Licensingitalia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-05T19:28:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-05T19:30:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.licensingitalia.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/BH1_0090_W94Gbc1i_20260605112734-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Alice Corbari\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@LicensingItalia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@LicensingItalia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alice Corbari\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.licensingitalia.it\/en\/icc-x-sanrio\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.licensingitalia.it\/en\/icc-x-sanrio\/\",\"name\":\"ICC x Sanrio - Licensing Italia\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.licensingitalia.it\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.licensingitalia.it\/en\/icc-x-sanrio\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.licensingitalia.it\/en\/icc-x-sanrio\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.licensingitalia.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/BH1_0090_W94Gbc1i_20260605112734-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-05T19:28:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-05T19:30:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.licensingitalia.it\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/fcb77de6050b2a1f51f003a6cb3279a6\"},\"description\":\"The International Cricket Council (ICC) and Sanrio today announced a landmark global licensing and merchandising partnership bringing\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.licensingitalia.it\/en\/icc-x-sanrio\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.licensingitalia.it\/en\/icc-x-sanrio\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.licensingitalia.it\/en\/icc-x-sanrio\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.licensingitalia.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/BH1_0090_W94Gbc1i_20260605112734-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.licensingitalia.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/BH1_0090_W94Gbc1i_20260605112734-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 05: &lt;&gt; during an ICC and Sanrio Management photocall at The Oval on June 05, 2026 in London, England. 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