How Stake’s Partnership with Trinbago Knight Riders Paid Off in the CPL

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Once again, the Trinbago Knight Riders are at the top of the West Indies cricketing world. With their 5th title in the span of a decade, they are an undisputed dynasty in sports, something that only the best of the best have managed to do. The era of dominance was seemingly over as there was a four year drought since their perfect, record breaking 2020 season. It was their fourth title in 6 years, but then, nothing. The fans grew restless, and the fans were becoming desperate for old glory, which is when the team decided to make a big move away from the pitch.

Enter Stake, the leading online casino and sportsbook. With their sponsorship deal with TKR, they not only entered the cricketing market for the first time, but have done so with one of the most successful, popular, and best T20 teams right now. With both domestically grown talent and international superstars, four titles under their belt, and ownership that stretches across other T20 leagues, it was a huge deal for both sides. And yet, some were skeptical because of the so called “Stake curse”, where teams and athletes that partner up with the gambling and sports betting platform experience a drop in form.

Well, this year, things are different. Everton is playing great, led by their new star, Jack Grealish. Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber has registered important points with Niko Hulkenberg capturing his career first podium, and now, the Trinbago Knight Riders are the champions of the 2025 Caribbean Premier League season. The curse, if it was ever a thing, is officially over, and we can comfortably say that the Trinbago Knight Riders Partnership with Stake is in large part responsible for this. Read on to learn how the partnership paid off for both sides and what it means for the team, the platform, the league, and the sport.

The digital gambling platform is great at combining online casino games and sports betting and leading the way forward in the fast changing industry. Over recent years, Stake has also been aggressively pursuing brand visibility through partnerships across high profile sports and entertainment properties. Stake has been connected with teams and events in motorsport (Formula 1), football (Premier League), and combat sports (UFC), seeking to fuse its gambling brand with fan communities globally.

Then, they entered the cricket market with their exciting sponsorship of the Trinbago Knight Riders of the Caribbean Premier League. As a platform, they are involved in gaming, betting, and fan engagement. They have a strong strategy that often leans heavily on marketing via sponsorships, exclusives, promotions, and content tie ins to embed itself within sports audiences. So, how successful was it for the Trinidad and Tobago T20 cricket team?

The Trinbago Knight Riders were already the most successful and visible franchise in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL). Based in Port of Spain, they are a melting pot of regional and international cricket culture, star power (local and international), and the broader Knight Riders brand family (which includes IPL’s Kolkata Knight Riders). Over time, TKR has amassed multiple CPL titles, starting in 2015, 2017, 2018, 2020, and culminating with the September 21 win of the 2025 title.

Over that time, they have been cultivating a strong fanbase across the Caribbean and among diaspora cricket followers. Given their mix of local significance and global connectivity, TKR presents an attractive property for brand partners who want both regional resonance and international reach. The sponsorship with Stake.com was welcomed, and a lot was expected from it. The players delivered on it with the 2025 title, extending the team’s title record and reaffirming themselves as the champions of West Indies cricket.

How did we get here, and what was the timeline of this already successful deal that benefits both sides? In July 2025, TKR officially announced that Stake would join as their “Official Title Partner” under a multi year agreement. This elevated position means that Stake is not merely a backer but holds the branding prominence and naming rights that come with “title” sponsorship. The agreement situates Stake as the top commercial partner for the team, with their logo clearly visible on the front of the shirt, the prime branding position in any sport. Many jerseys have become iconic for their branding, and Stake and TKR have already started that with this deal and the recent title.

TKR management emphasized that the partnership brings together “two globally recognised brands” that are aligning on innovation, fan engagement, and the growth of cricket. From Stake’s perspective, TKR’s record of success, passionate fanbase, and brand synergy with the Knight Riders group made them an ideal partner to deepen Stake’s presence in the cricket and wider sports world. Whereas the platform gets a growing cricket market to bolster its presence in the sport, the franchise gets a valuable partner already involved in sports betting across the world and strong ties to some of the biggest teams and athletes in their respective competitions. It is a win win for each and an absolute blast for the fans, thanks to promotions and fan experiences involved.

Going deeper into it, at its core, the Stake TKR deal is about synergy. For the Knight Riders, bringing in a deep pocketed sponsor with global ambitions offers new resources, marketing muscle, and promotional capabilities. For Stake, cricket remains among the fastest growing domains for betting and sports media, especially in regions with emerging digital adoption. Aligning with a marquee team in the Caribbean helps Stake localize its brand, leverage cricket narrative, and expand its footprint in markets where cricket is popular. Larger cricket deals, perhaps in the IPL, are surely on the radar now that the infamous “Stake curse” has been broken!

Stake’s broader sponsorship portfolio (which includes ventures with Everton, Sauber F1 Team, UFC fighters, and even esports) suggests they are intent on being seen not just as a gambling operator but as a sports and entertainment brand. The TKR partnership allows the platform to enter or deepen connections in the Caribbean and cricketing markets via a well known, well loved franchise. They can then move north into the US market for other sports, as well as south into Central and South America. Both continents are thriving with sporting potential and are emerging markets for numerous sports.

Promotions and incentives for the fans of cricket on Stake’s platform started with the onset of the deal, but they will surely be bigger than ever now that it resulted in a championship. One concrete example of this is a match based promotional campaign. For example, Stake offered a prize pool in which users who back TKR and, if TKR wins and hits a six in the first over, will split USD $10,000 among eligible bettors. This kind of campaign ties fan betting behavior directly to on field performance. It incentivizes engagement (placing bets), supports the narrative (will TKR hit a six early?), and creates a bridge between the match itself and Stake’s platform.

The terms included conditions like minimum stake thresholds, limits per household, and timing (pre match, single bets). The promotion is limited to CPL matches and excludes voided bets or cashed out bets. This reflects careful structuring to balance promotional excitement with risk control. Now that the season is over, fans will have to wait for the next one before a new round of incentives comes around. Until then, there is plenty of cricket to be played, and Stake always has new ways to surprise fans and maximize both their experience and potential winnings.

Since we are a week removed from the historic 2025 CPL season, it is the right time to reflect and take a look at the important statistics. Only when a campaign is truly over and the dust has settled can we begin to analyze it and see who did what. Here is an overview of the recently finished season to keep you going a bit more until a new cricketing tournament begins somewhere else in the world.

Duration: 14 August-21 September 2025Format: Double round robin + PlayoffsTotal Teams: 6Total Matches: 34Champions: Trinbago Knight Riders (5th title)Runners up: Guyana Amazon WarriorsFinal Venue: Providence Stadium, GuyanaPlayer of the Tournament: Kieron Pollard (Trinbago Knight Riders)

Highest Individual Score: 125 (Tim Seifert)Most Sixes: Nicholas Pooran (28 sixes)Best Strike Rate (Min 200 runs): Tim Seifert (169.2)

Best Bowling in an Innings: Imran Tahir 5/18Most Economical (Min 15 overs): Motie (6.35)

Most Catches (Non-Keeper): Akeal Hosein-9Most Dismissals (Keeper): Shai Hope-13 (11 catches, 2 stumpings)Highest Partnership: 162*-Pooran & Munro (TKR vs Barbados Royals)

The Trinbago Knight Riders have won the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) title a record 5 times, in 2015, 2017, 2018, 2020, and 2025. With 5 titles in the last decade, they are now, by far, the most successful team in CPL history.

TKR is co owned by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla, and her husband Jay Mehta. The ownership group is the same behind the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), which has created a cross league brand connection that highly benefits the Caribbean league.

The team was originally called the Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel. In 2015, after the KKR group bought a stake, they rebranded the team to Trinbago Knight Riders in 2016 and have never looked back since.

In the 2020 CPL season, TKR pulled off an incredible feat by winning all 12 of their matches, including the final. It remains the only undefeated season in CPL history and the crown jewel of the new era of the franchise.

That 12 match winning streak in 2020 is also the longest winning streak in a single CPL season and the most wins in one edition, sweeping all potential season records a team can achieve.

TKR plays their home games at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad. It is one of the most iconic cricket stadiums in the Caribbean, with a capacity of about 20,000.

Over the years, TKR has featured several international cricket superstars, including Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Bravo, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Colin Munro, and Andre Russell.

New Zealand’s Colin Munro has been one of TKR’s top run scorers and once scored multiple fifties and centuries in a single CPL season. He was the top scorer in the 2018 CPL, helping his team win the second title in four seasons.

All rounder Dwayne “DJ” Bravo was not only TKR’s most charismatic captain but also a key player in all five title wins. He is also one of CPL’s highest wicket takers of all time.

TKR is part of the Knight Riders Group, which also owns teams in other leagues, mainly Kolkata Knight Riders (IPL-India), Los Angeles Knight Riders (MLC-USA), and Abu Dhabi Knight Riders (ILT20-UAE). This makes TKR part of one of the first truly global cricket franchise families with teams in 4 different T20 domestic leagues in growing cricket markets.