Mumbai: GroupM ESP Sports Sponsorship Report has noted that cricketers saw their income from brands shoot up by 27% over 2022. 87% share of all athlete endorsements came through cricketer-related deals – a number that is close to the overall industry contribution from the leading sport in India.
At an overall level, cricket and emerging sports combined to fetch their sports celebrities an amount of Rs. 927 Crore ($Mn 112) in 2023. We will be crossing the Rs. 1000 Crore milestone very soon, and it is a reflection on the influence wielded by sports stars on the collective consciousness of India.
Leading cricketers are household names, and brands believe in their ability to positively impact their marketing initiatives. Hence, it comes as no surprise that superstars like Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma are bagging lucrative contracts even as the new brigade has already come up the ranks. Outside of cricket, the successes of champions like Neeraj Chopra, PV Sindhu and others, have truly inspired athletes from a range of emerging sports to put their best foot forward as they come up with world class performances while representing India.
Sponsorship: Sponsorship spends saw a healthy 24% growth against the 2022 numbers. The biggest contributor to the increment was Franchise Fee which added almost Rs. 1000 Crores ($ 120 million) to its total in just one year. This is a testament to the robustness of the franchising ecosystem in India, a trail blazed by the IPL. 2023 saw the first ever edition of the WPL being played out among five teams. The rights to three of these outfits were won by IPL owners of the teams in their respective cities – Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru. The organizations that represent the IPL franchises are also emerging as multi-nationals in their own rights with their investments in overseas T20 competitions in other cricketing nations like South Africa, stamping the Indian dominance in the business of cricket the world over.
Team Sponsorships: These grew by a solid 22% on the back of a solid performance by cricket yet again. While the IPL played its part on expected lines, the women’s league also chipped in with contributions. To take a leaf out of cricket’s book, the Pro Kabaddi League also had brands coming in as the lead sponsor for all the teams. The arrival of Adidas as the Kit Sponsor of Team India in cricket gave a fillip to the sector, and the optics of a leading sportwear brand in that role will be sending all the right signals in the world of sports.
However Ground Sponsorship had a relatively tepid year with 6% growth. 2023 lacked a marquee non-cricketing event like the Fifa World Cup, and that left a gaping hole in the business of emerging sports. Foreign properties with good viewership in India, like cricket teams in an ICC event, and famous English Premier League (EPL) clubs, are attracting sponsorship opportunities from brands in the country.
