Mumbai, Jul 21 (IANS): New Zealand Cricket (NZC) on Thursday signed a five-year deal with Indian company Dream Sports to build crickets first-ever comprehensive suite of digital fan engagement products in an exclusive five-year deal.

Under the deal, the five-year partnership will create unique, fan-focused avenues across Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), Gaming and Merchandising through Dream Spor's' portfolio. Coincidentally, Dream Sports' owned brand Dream11 has been N'C's Official Fantasy Sports Partner since 2019 and has been a sponsor of their T20 Super Smash competition.

Dream Sports' will lead NZC's debut in cricket NFTs, which will be developed by Rario, creators of the world's first cricket NFT platform. Rario will launch NZC's cricket NFT programme and enable cricket fans to engage as a community, and own a piece of NZC cricket history through digital collectibles across player cards, video moments, and cricket artifacts; with FIAT-only products offered in India,Dream Sports informed in a release here.

"One of NZC's key goals is to extend our teams' global reach; to build closer relationships around the world, and to develop new ways for fans to engage and connect with the deep history of our sport. We're delighted to be aligning with Dream Sports which is right at the forefront of the industry: innovative, go-ahead and well-known for putting fans and subscribers first," NZC chief executive David White was quoted as saying in the release.

Chris Smith, GM Commercial, NZC said the agreement would be a game-changer for New Zealand cricket fans. "The long-term relationship we have with Dream Sports is very special so it's fantastic to be building on NZC's existing partnerships with Dream11 and FanCode in this way. We would also like to acknowledge the players and the New Zealand Cricket Players' Association for their support of the arrangements."

Vikrant Mudaliar, Chief Marketing Officer, Dream Sports, expressed his excitement over the association with NZC. "We are excited about the next big leap in our association with New Zealand Cricket, and look forward to exploring its full potential for fan engagement through the Dream Sports portfolio."

"The first-of-its-kind collaboration will enable deeper engagement opportunities for sports fans through newer avenues like NFTs, Gaming and Merchandising, in a phased manner; and lead by example in keeping fans central to the sport."