A few nights stay with you even after the lights go out. Such nights are no accident. They are designed. At the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, DNA Networks was the team behind that design, working across stadiums, ceremonies, hospitality, fan engagement and entertainment to create an experience that extended far beyond the cricket. […]
A few nights stay with you even after the lights go out. Such nights are no accident. They are designed.
At the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, DNA Networks was the team behind that design, working across stadiums, ceremonies, hospitality, fan engagement and entertainment to create an experience that extended far beyond the cricket.
The first moments were sacred on the opening night at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Players were in the dressing room as fans packed the stands. Emotions from around the world filled the arena. It was DNA’s responsibility to make that night feel big, and we did.
Artists including Badshah, Nora Fatehi, Rishab Sharma and Shivamani performed alongside dancers and drummers. Sound, lights, lasers and pyrotechnics came together to build the atmosphere, before all eyes turned to the trophy.
Behind those moments was a production of considerable scale. The opening ceremony used 1,500 lights and 164 SFX units, including flames, Sparkulars and comets. Around 200 technical crew and 200 labour personnel worked behind the scenes to bring the production together.
The audience saw the performance. Hundreds of people were working to make every cue happen.
The opening was only the first stroke of the brush. The painting was far from complete.
Across all eight venues, DNA delivered a structured Sportainment framework so that the experience inside these cricket stadiums did not depend on luck, weather or a single headline act.
Each stadium was treated like a blank canvas, just like Wankhede. Inside each arena, DNA powered the energy with entertainment stages, music, drummers, CO2 effects, pyrotechnics and more.
Before every match, a pre-game ritual unfolded, followed by a meticulously curated flag ceremony. We understood the assignment, but we also focused on something that can often be missed in large-scale productions: a ceremony is not a filler element. It is one of the moments that makes people feel like they belong.
Ahmedabad brought its own scale to the production. The venue featured 2,050 lights, 24 lasers and rooftop SFX across 32 positions. Another 240 SFX units, including flames, Sparkulars and flashes, added another layer to the visual experience.
The challenge was not simply to put more equipment into a stadium. It was to make every element work together, at the right moment and at the right scale.
Beyond the boundary line, DNA kept working around the clock. In the concourse, fans found engagement that turned spectators into participants. “Reach for the Catch” and “Strong Arm Throw” activations, banner-making zones, 3D installations and live parades gave fans reasons to stay involved.
On the big screen, dynamic graphics and RF camera moments kept the crowd connected through the long stretches when the ball was not in play.
To the outside world, it was one tournament. To DNA, it was a tournament comprising eight venues, each with its own set of fan activations, entertainment requirements and on-ground setups.
The ICC’s faith in DNA gave us an opportunity to contribute to the way live sport is experienced in India. The pitch still decided the cricket. DNA focused on how that cricket felt inside the stadium.
A blank canvas does not turn into a beautiful piece of art if the artist simply sits and waits for something to appear on it.
DNA picked up the brush, dipped it in different colours and transformed select stadium sections into premium hospitality lounges for the ICC and BCCI across eight stadiums.
While spectators focused on 22 players on a matchday, around 400 people across technical and labour teams worked behind the scenes to help deliver the experience.
DNA has always believed that a premium experience is not curated by chance. It is constructed with intent.
Every lounge, every activation and every production element had a purpose. Nothing was left to improvisation.
We carried the same approach off the field.
As the official global partner of the ICC, Marriott Bonvoy wanted its members to feel closer to the game. DNA designed and delivered a month-long, multi-city activation that made the partnership tangible.
The ecosystem lived across hotels, offices, stadiums and after-parties.
There were 165 days of hotel lobby activations across five cities, office activations across three cities, stadium concourse activations in four cities and 54 hotel match screenings across five cities.
Hospitality lounges were also created for marquee matches, alongside after-parties that included the India versus Pakistan takeover.
Our approach to partnerships was simple: they should be experienced, not just seen.
To finish the piece of art on our canvas, we put together the final strokes and then came the finishing touches.
On the biggest night in T20 cricket, DNA orchestrated a multi-layered entertainment spectacle.
The grand closing ceremony featured Falguni Pathak, Sukhbir Singh and Ricky Martin, bringing together music, performance, technology and large-scale production.
The ceremony also featured 160 dancers, 290 mass-cast performers and 75 helium balloons positioned across the ground. 15 circular trusses were used for special effects, while 1,90,000 sq. ft. of fabric transformed the field into a giant stage.
Right after the coin toss, Kings United India brought signature energy that set the tone.
Mid-innings, lights, lasers and special effects transformed the stadium into a visual experience. The evening culminated in a drone show and a presentation ceremony for which DNA created the stage and special effects, giving the champions a celebration worthy of a World Cup.
Meeting the requirements of a massive international event of this scale was a challenge, but also a privilege for everyone at DNA.
Across ceremonies, stadium entertainment, fan engagement, hospitality and brand activations, every part of the experience demanded planning, coordination and execution at scale.
Moments like these are why DNA loves what it does.
The ICC trusted us with some of the tournament's biggest moments, and we brought together hundreds of people, thousands of technical elements and countless moving parts to deliver them.
DNA Networks has been a trusted ICC partner since 2011. It is a relationship rooted in innovation and excellence.
Today, DNA operates through multiple offices worldwide, including its Bengaluru headquarters, and delivers more than 2,500 event days annually.
And the T20 World Cup was another chapter in that journey.
Apart from the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, DNA also designed ICC lounges and ceremonies for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025, including a closing show featuring more than 400 dancers and 1,000 synchronised drones.
Because when the lights go out and the stadium finally falls quiet, the memory of the experience is what remains.
And that experience is never created by accident.
DNA Entertainment Networks Private Limited, No 7 (Old No. 215), Bellary Road, Palace Orchards, Bengaluru 560 080, India
