Cricketers likely to see big swing in endorsement fees despite World Cup loss

Mumbai: Sports marketing companies that represent leading cricketers are seeking a double-digit increase in their endorsement fees notwithstanding India’s loss to Australia in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup final on Sunday.

They believe team India’s dominant run in the World Cup until the finals, with everyone playing their role to perfection, will make these players even more popular in a country where cricket is akin to a religion. Cricketers can help brands build connections with consumers and improve visibility by cutting across barriers like geography and language, they said.

“We don’t have the World Cup tag, but the players have walked away as heroes,” said Nikhil Bardia, head of sponsorship sales and talent at Rise Worldwide, which manages Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, and Jasprit Bumrah, among others.

“I expect the endorsement value of Indian cricketers to increase by 30-40% because brands will continue to look at them for the way they have performed,” he said.

The Reliance Industries-owned Rise Worldwide is in talks with 4-5 brands for Sharma, who became the highest-scoring skipper in a single edition of a World Cup with 597 runs, Bardia said.

According to market estimates, top cricketers like Virat Kohli and Sharma charge anywhere between ₹3.5 crore to ₹7 crore per endorsement deal. In the case of other cricketers, the endorsement ranges from ₹1 crore to ₹2 crore per deal.According to a report by sports marketing agency GroupM ESP, the value of all sports endorsement deals in the country surged 20% year on year to ₹749 crore in 2022, with cricketers accounting for ₹640 crore, or 85% of the total.Aviral Jain, managing director, valuation advisory services, of finance and risk advisory firm Kroll, said the endorsement value of individual cricketers who have performed exceptionally well in the World Cup like Kohli and Mohammed Shami will go up.

“Individual cricketers, rather than the entire Indian team, will gain due to the strong performance of the Indian cricket team. The opportunity was to gain 2X, but that has come down by 50-60% due to the loss in the final match,” Jain said.

Kohli was named player of the tournament, having scored 765 runs in 11 matches. Shami was the highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 24 wickets in seven matches.

Brand expert Harish Bijoor, however, feels that brands will not be willing to pay inflationary hikes to cricketers since India has lost the final. “If India had won the World Cup, I would have expected an inflation of 25-30% in the endorsement fees of all cricketers,” he said.

Bardia of Rise Worldwide said two key trends are going to play out in the coming months. Firstly, brands will do more long-term deals after benefiting from their association with cricketers. Secondly, brands will come up with interesting narratives in their marketing campaigns with cricketers, depending on the positioning of the players. “In endorsement space, there has been a segmentation of players, with Rohit and Virat at the top, followed by other established players like Hardik (Pandya),” he said.