This season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has already thrown up winners even before the tournament has ended. Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore have emerged as the top teams, whose brand merchandise has been lapped up by fans. “Teams that are performing well are seeing good sales. Mumbai and Bangalore lead the chart now. However, sales fluctuate with performance,” said Saumitra Srivastava, Director, Yog Sports, the official merchandise distribution partner for IPL.
According to Srivastava, home teams have an advantage, as sales happen almost in the ratio of 75:25 among the home team and the visiting team, and if Mumbai reaches the semis or the final, its sales will move up even further. A survey report by eBay India, India’s leading e-commerce marketplace, says Mumbai is India’s biggest IPL city on eBay, with the maximum IPL merchandise being bought in Mumbai. Interestingly, southern metropolitan cities like Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai were in the second, third and fourth positions respectively, while Delhi made it to fifth place.
Deepa Thomas, senior manager-pop culture, eBay India, said, “IPL has fans from 170 cities and 11 countries buying merchandise on eBay India. In India, IPL is no longer a metro phenomenon, with Tier-II cities like Tirupur and Bhubaneswar making their debut in the top 10 IPL cities.” The IPL merchandise on offer on eBay India includes jerseys, T-shirts, caps, footwear and a wide range of fan gear from backpacks, key chains, fan capes, bottle chillers, collectibles, cheering sticks, tattoos, wrist bands and even trumpets from all eight teams.
Srivastava said pickup of merchandise could have been much higher with a better pricing strategy. “We have found in smaller cities like Cuttack that expectations of consumers do not match the price at which the merchandise is offered,” he said. Also, the deal that Yog Sports signed with IPL happened three weeks into the tournament and Srivastava said there wasn’t enough time to fine-tune the arrangements.
Currently, T-shirts have been priced between Rs 200 and Rs 3,000, while caps are priced at Rs 75, and trumpets between Rs 100 and Rs 150. The sales in stadiums are on an average between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 3 lakh per match, depending on the location. In Mumbai and Bangalore, the revenues are as high as Rs 8 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. Srivastava said his company would be able to break even on the investment it made on the distribution deal next year.
Adidas, official merchandise partner for Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai Indians, has witnessed 40-50 per cent growth in sales. Andreas Gellner, managing director of Adidas, said, “We have already seen a 40-50 per cent rise in IPL merchandise sales revenue this year compared with the last. We expect the frenzy to continue, especially for the popular teams as they enter the semi-finals.” Adidas added new merchandise this year, like backpacks.
Reebok, which is the official merchandise partner for Kolkata Knight Riders, Punjab XI, Chennai Superkings, and Bangalore Royal Challengers, has also seen IPL merchandise sales picking up ‘significantly’. Vishnu Bhagat, chief financial officer, Reebok, said, “We have a more loyal fan base for the IPL teams this year, compared with the last two years. So, merchandise sales have significantly gone up although the exact quantum has not been calculated yet.”
According to industry estimates, team owners will have revenues between Rs 1 crore and Rs 5 crore this season from merchandise sales alone, depending on the popularity of the team.