Sports sponsorships in India surges 14% to reach Rs 73 bn in 2017: Report

Media spends grew 15.8% from Rs 35.11 billion in 2016 to Rs 40.65 billion in 2017

Sports sponsorships in India grew by 14 per cent to reach Rs 73 billion in 2017. Media spends (across print, TV and digital) on sports contributed the most (55 per cent of overall spends), followed by ground sponsorships, according to a report. 

Sports sponsorships now account for 12 per cent of the total advertising expenditure , even as sports viewership is only 5 per cent of the total TV viewership, according to ESP (GroupM’s sports marketing division) and Sportzpower’s Making of a Sports Nation V — India Sponsorship Report 2017.

Vinit Karnik, business head, ESP Properties, said, “2017 was truly the big year for the business of sports. With the Pro Kabaddi League emerging as the second-most popular league in India after the Indian Premier League, and the India edition of U-17 Football World Cup creating history in terms of audience attendance, sports sponsorships have enjoyed a bull run.

As the popularity of sports grows in India, sports stars also expand their brand endorsement portfolios. Virat Kohli led brand endorsements with 19 brands and Rs 1.5+ billion in value, while PV Sindhu leads the non-cricket endorsement space with 11 brands and Rs 300+ million in value.”

Media spends grew 15.8 per cent from Rs 35.11 billion in 2016 to Rs 40.65 billion in 2017. TV led the way, growing at 42.7 per cent to Rs 33.79 billion over 2016’s Rs 23.67 billion. 2017 saw the gap between print and digital spends narrow further, as print clocked Rs 3.56 billion in media spends as against digital’s Rs 3.3 billion.
 

The growth in digital has come from cricket more than any other sport.
 

On-ground sponsorships grew by 14.7 per cent from Rs 11.65 billion to Rs 13.37 billion in 2017, led once again by cricket (Rs 6.69 billion, growing at 18.9 per cent), followed by football (Rs 1.79 billion) and kabaddi (Rs 1.14 billion). Football showed maximum growth in attracting on-ground money at 63.8 per cent (2016 — Rs 1.1 billion), primarily on the back of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup, which took place in India and was aired on the Sony Pictures Sports Network.

Team sponsorships were up 17.1 per cent, reaching 8.19 billion, led by Oppo’s deal for Team India sponsorship (Rs 10.79 billion for the April 2018-March 2022 period). Franchise fees also saw healthy growth at 24.8 per cent (Rs 6.84 billion in 2017 over Rs 6.84 billion in 2016) led by developments in other sports, such as the launch of new leagues and the addition two teams in the Indian Super League and four teams in the Pro Kabaddi League. Franchise fees in cricket remained stagnant.

Endorsements in sports (by sportspersons) slowed down as two major deals – Messi’s Rs 600 million a year endorsement deal with Tata Motors and Tiger Woods’ Rs 500 million a year deal with Hero MotoCorp, came to an end. As a result, the endorsement pie within sports has de-grown by 17 per cent. However, cricket continued to see growth in endorsements at 15.5 per cent, reaching Rs 3.23 billion in 2017, nearly half of which comes from one person – Team India captain Virat Kohli (estimated endorsement value in excess of Rs 1.5 billion across 19 brands).

Among non-cricket sportsperson, PV Sindhu emerged the leader with 11 endorsements valued at Rs 300 million. The total endorsement value of non-cricket sports was Rs 730 million, as opposed Rs 1.97 billion in 2016.

Thomas Abraham, co-founder, SportzPower, said, “With the 2017 momentum and the economy also looking up and set to grow at 7.3 per cent in 2018-19, sports is looking at an even bigger year. As the industry anticipates clarity on the structure of club Football in India, among the new leagues on the horizon, volleyball seems the most promising. In the media firmament, while new revenue benchmarks are expected from television, it will be traction in the digital arena that provides real pointers to where the industry is going over the next few years.”