NATION IN THE MAKING VIII

INDIA SPORTS SPONSORSHIP

REPORT 2021
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 At GroupM ESP (the Entertainment, Esports & Sports division of
GroupM), we are brimming with excitement as we bring to you
the eighth edition of the ‘Sporting Nation in the Making’. This is
an industry initiative from us that gives you a view of the state
of play in the Sports Sponsorship Industry in India.

2020 was a year that saw the exemplary demonstration of India’s

business world having to grapple preparedness to host major sporting
with the Covid-19 pandemic. The events even under such taxing
intrinsic nature of the sports sector circumstances.
did not blend well with the
prerequisites of social distancing, The strong exit momentum for 2020
which was the need of the hour. As augers well for the industry as the
Vinit Karnik India went into a lockdown, many rights holders, sponsors, franchisees,
Head – Entertainment, Esports & sports properties were either broadcasters, and athletes come
Sports, GroupM South Asia cancelled or postponed. Two of the together for a potential upturn.
[email protected] most anticipated sporting spectacles There are many positives that came
of the year, Tokyo Olympics and Euro out of the Covid blues, like the
Soccer, were rescheduled to 2021. tech-enabled fan engagement
The ICC T20 World Cup was another innovations, inflection in e-sports and
miss for 2020; this was an eagerly most importantly, the strong sense of
awaited event by our cricket fans. alignment among the stakeholders
Even as the sponsorship and media on key issues. 2021 has on offer, all the
spends were impacted, the way the major events we had lost last year,
sporting ecosystem reacted to the and we are all set for near normal
crisis was truly commendable. The services to resume in Indian sports.
very fact that sports was back sooner
than expected, that too with due This report gives you a view of the
safety protocols in place, is a tribute sports industry from three angles-
to the collaborative spirit displayed Sports Sponsorship (On Ground, Team
by the stakeholders. and Franchise), Athlete Endorsement
and Media Spends. While it gives key
The IPL had always scored heavily for investment trends in each of these
the Indian Sports Industry, since its areas, it also captures the digital
game-changing entry in 2008. Add data (social conversations & search),
to this, the sporting leagues that have along with the On Air reach & TRPs in
emerged in the past few years, and the major sporting leagues to
we have a winning combination that increase the utility to rights owners,
gave us a decade of healthy advertisers and agencies. While we
growth. The COVID threat came at a give you the trends in terms of
time when the industry was on a roll, numbers, we also explore the
as evident from the scorecards of the underlying factors, giving you a deep
preceding years. If we zoom in on dive into the industry with a
the five years leading up to the quantitative as well as qualitative
pandemic, the Indian Sports Industry approach. It is with deep gratitude
had returned a very healthy CAGR of that we acknowledge valuable
14.6% with contributions coming from contributions from rights owners,
all sectors. Even in the face of an agencies and industry participants
adverse context, the stakeholders who have supported us with
came together to provide the spark invaluable insights and information
the industry needed. The IPL was a as we worked towards bringing this
big success, while the ISL was an report to you.
2020: Adapting and
responding as the pandemic
throws a curveball
Gloom or Doom: Innovation
Sporting Nation is the keyword for Team
Sponsorships Going Forward

Indian Football in times of

Sponsorship in the time Covid-19
of Corona: Batting on an
unplayable wicket
Burgeoning E-Sports
ecosystem presents a fresh
opportunity for brands
Endorsements: Virat and Ten-year story: A
team wield great power multi-sport ecosystem
with great responsibility evolves as cricket hits
a purple patch

Unlocking value Tokyo202O(NE):

in a relevant, The light at the
transparent and end of the tunnel?
emotional ecosystem

Media Spends: Cricket 2021 and beyond:

shows the way in hostile Warmed up for a
playing conditions post-pandemic
resurgence

The Last Word

In a year that held a lot of promises for India’s Sports Industry, the Covid-19 threat forced the
whole world to respond in a manner we had not envisaged. Major sporting events were
cancelled or postponed, leading to severe impact on all stakeholders. While India missed
out on many national and international events, we saw cricket lead from the front and
provide joy to millions of fans who follow it. As the games returned without spectators at the
grounds, many tech enabled intiatives were rolled out to engage the viewers who were
watching from the safety of the their homes.

which takes up 28% of the industry

pie, which translates to an amount of
INR 1673 Cr ($ 226 Mn). India is a
nation that loves its sports heroes,
The size of the Indian and approximately 10% share of the
Sports Industry in 2020 is spends came from the value of
estimated at INR 5894 Cr brand endorsement deals from our
($ 796 Mn). This takes into favorite stars, which works out to an
consideration the following - Sports amount of INR 564 Cr ($ 76 Mn). The
Sponsorship Spends, Sports Celebrity data mentioned above does not
Endorsement, and Media Spends on include the following – Gate
Sports Properties. The biggest share receipts, Player Fee/Salary, Prize
here goes to media, where Money, Merchandizing, Subscription,
advertisement expenses on TV, Digital Sports Goods and other Operational
and Print media were to tune of INR as well as Activation Costs. In the
3657 Cr ($ 494 Mn); this accounts for Sports Industry, it is the competitive
62% of the total. Sponsorship Spends action on the field that functions as
include On Ground Sponsorships, the fulcrum around which the
Team Sponsorships and Franchise Fee commercial considerations revolve.
As 2020 began, the sports fans had many athletes to be in the limelight, fervor. The Indian men’s cricket team
an amazing buffet of events that and the postponement of the event had less than half the number of
were laid out for them. But then, as to 2021 had a significant impact on international matches it had in 2019,
we know, it was a year that didn’t go the industry performance, especially which further compounded the
as per plans for any of us. As the from a media perspective. Other travails of the sponsorship sector.
pandemic tightened its grip on the marquee events which were 2020’s Making matters worse was the
world, many competitions had to be loss and 2021’s gain included Euro cancellation of eight sporting
called off. As a result, the year was Football and World Indoor Athletics leagues in India - Pro Kabaddi, Indo
deprived of a significant number of Championships. Closer home, cricket International Premier Kabaddi
sporting events. With no action on the always involves maximum viewer League, Premier Badminton League,
field, there were severe commercial anticipation and financial Pro Volleyball League, Pro Wrestling
implications. Even as the absence of implications; 2020 lost many events League, Ultimate Table Tennis, Big
a fair share of events has rendered among which were the ICC T20 World Bout Indian Boxing League and X1
year-on-year comparisons irrelevant, Cup and the Asia Cup. Even the Racing League; along with major
two things are extremely heartening. Indian Premier League (IPL) was at tournaments in sports like Badminton
First, the overall levels of business seen risk of being cancelled, before it was and Golf. Every cloud has a silver
in the industry in 2020, and then, the salvaged by shifting the venue to the lining to it; in November the Indian
high running momentum as we exit UAE. India’s foremost sporting league Super League (ISL) got underway in
the year and move on to 2021. eventually got underway in three venues in Goa with strict Covid
September much to the delight of protocols and adherence to
The Tokyo Olympics would have fans, players, franchisees, sponsors bio-bubble considerations. This was
been the highlight of the year. India and rights holders. The success of the the first major sports event to be held
was hoping to put up a strong show IPL was a great demonstration of the in India after the pandemic hit us;
at the games, and as in the case with qualities of brinkmanship and giving ample demonstration of our
recent years, a few medals would not improvisation, just what the doctor ability to pull off an event of this
have been inconceivable. It would ordered to lift the spirits of a nation in magnitude under such
have been a great opportunity for which cricket is followed with religious circumstances. As our cricket team
toured down under, the sports world a significant step jump in the level of more, and e-sports in India is still seen
began to give impressions of having social media influencer activity to be in its nascent stage. In terms of
turned the tables on the virus. With among popular athletes. Such deals advertising and sponsorship in online
the IPL leading the charge for the contributed to 6% of total athlete gaming, industry sources put the
industry as the biggest contributor in endorsement value in 2020. With so growth figures for the year in the
sponsorship and media spends, many events getting cancelled, it region of 300-400%. As we experience
cricket contributed INR 5133 Cr ($ 694 was understandable that there was a rapid growth, there is a need to be
Mn) which works out to a mammoth 30% dip in media spends too, but agile, and to learn and fix on the go,
share of 87%. Other sports when juxtaposed with the loss of because in India, online games have
cumulatively contributed to the events at the altar of the pandemic, just begun their show.
balance 13%, which was an amount this would strike as an incredible
of INR 761 Cr ($ 103 Mn). achievement too, thanks mainly to The experience with the pandemic
the IPL. has made us wiser. Trying times like
Fantasy Sports Platforms have been this tell us about the importance of
making solid inroads in the The lockdown had also catalyzed the collaborating better for a common
sponsorship space in India. Dream 11 growth in certain sectors. This happens good and the need to have a long
has been investing in many when exciting business opportunities term perspective on things. These are
properties around the world, the icing come out of evolving consumer times in which the sporting ecosystem
on the cake for them was the Title habits, eventually getting backing should work along with the
Rights they won at IPL 2020. In from key stakeholders, like in the case government, and have more
another significant move, MPL Sports with online gaming and e-sports. In Public-Private Partnerships to support
signed up as the Kit Sponsor for the the lockdown days, our young and sports. As we turn back and look at
Indian Cricket Team, a position that tech-savvy population was affected 2020, it was certainly a tough year,
was held by Nike since 2005. With by the absence of live sports along but no doubt, it has made us
new-age businesses like Cred and with a sub-optimal supply of fresh stronger, and hopefully we have left
Unacademy associating themselves content. One of the consequences of a lot of turbulent clouds behind us as
with the IPL, what we witnessed was a this was the shift towards gaming; the we move forward. If we look ahead,
clear trend in the direction of more month of April saw an 11% increase in the route looks a lot clearer; and a lot
involvement from fast growing tech users per week along with a significant of great sporting action we missed
platforms in the area of sports jump in average time spent per last year will be waiting for us in 2021.
sponsorship. Athlete Endorsement gamer. This led to a sudden boom in
grew 5% over 2019, against the run of e-sports in 2020, with communities
play in a year ravaged by the getting built and multiplayer activities
pandemic. Here again, cricketers gaining ground. If we zoom out and
ruled the roost, with 92% share of the take a view of the last three years, we
pie. Of the 377 endorsement deals can see that there has been a
that happened last year, 275 doubling in the gamer base as well as
involved cricket players. During the viewership numbers in the time period.
period of inactivity in sports, there was Still, there is immense potential to grow
 SPONSORSHIP

1,673
2020 (INR Cr)
226
2020 (USD Mn)

ENDORSEMENT

564
2020 (INR Cr)
76
2020 (USD Mn)

MEDIA SPENDS

3,657
2020 (INR Cr)
494
2020 (USD Mn)

TOTAL INDUSTRY SIZE

5,894
2020 (INR Cr)
796
2020 (USD Mn)

CRICKET

5,133
2020 (INR Cr)
694
2020 (USD Mn)

TOTAL
5,894
2020 (INR Cr)
796
2020 (USD Mn)

EMERGING SPORTS

761 102
• Source – GroupM ESP 2020 (INR Cr) 2020 (USD Mn)

• 2020 Conversion Rate 1$ = Rs 74

• Cricket contributed 87% and emerging sports share was 13% in overall sports spends
• Sports Celebrity Endorsements saw a growth of 5%
• IPL was the major contributor in Sponsorships and Media Spends
As CFG group's Mumbai City hoisted their maiden trophy signaling the
successful completion of Indian Super League, the first sporting event in India
and the longest football event in the world to be held in a bubble in a single
city, I couldn't help but rewind to last edition's final. A last-minute call was taken
to play closed door, on the back of India v SA cricket series being called off
abruptly as it looked then, one had no idea what was in store.

Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Between May and June Bundesliga,

preparations was in full swing, IPL Korean baseball, AFL, La Liga, PGA,
schedule announced with MI getting Super Lig amongst others showed the
ready to host CSK and preparations way. Caution in excess was ok, but let
afoot for a host of other sporting us get the show on the road was the
events. Life hit a pause button. A long message. Health, medical & safety
pause. A pause with no idea when took centerstage in the return of
Authored by:
play will happen again. sports. Exhaustive contingency plans,
testing protocols, bio bubbles
When will sport return? This question entered sporting lexicon.
has been in the minds of many.

Amidst all that was happening

Sport was making its way
around us last year, sport seemed back.
trivial and an indulgence. Yet one
yearned for it to start. I doubt few events could have lifted
the mood of our nation like the IPL did
Mr. Sundar Raman Zoom rooms around the world were in 2020. From extended lockdown
Independent management staring at cancellation of sporting periods, the IPL undaunted (not new
consultant events, discussing force majeure to them) by the challenge of logistics
clauses, looking at their crumbling signaled the festive season cheer all
Former MD Mindshare, COO finances, facing job losses, pay-cuts, through from September to
Indian Premier League and furloughs, and looking in the direction November. The euphoria was
CEO Sports of RIL. of government for sustenance — as palpable right from the time the
revenues were down to Zero. After all announcement was made in August.
sport is largely a daily wage business The industry was afoot with deal
— no play, no pay. making, shoot logistics, training
camps, social media posts and not to
It felt like a downward spiral and the miss fantasy teams discussions. Even
edifice was crumbling. Zoom calls became interesting and
were looked forward to with
When will sport return? expectation and eagerness.
How will sport return?
Sport was returning albeit with
Into the unknown - masked in significant constraints. No fans,
paranoia, bathed in sanitizer but quarantined in rooms, limited access
filled with hope.
to gyms, newer surroundings to play But the biggest impact and change 2. Wearables will become
are not how the world played sport. sport is witnessing and will continue to
Never mind the adversity we were all witness is in the area of technology.
mandatory
happy we could play/watch our The impact of 2020 has catalyzed
Around end 2019, it was estimated
favorites. and accelerated tech adoption
that around 400 Mn + smart wearable
even amongst the ones who are slow
devices will be sold in the year 2020.
There was opportunity in adversity. to adapt to it — be it federations,
This amounted to a staggering USD
There always is. New areas of care leagues, governing organization to
34Bn. Whilst Covid may have slowed
emerged. even administrators.
this down a bit, this sector like a
• New improved measures on catapult, took a few steps back only to
Sport is largely a social activity.
health, hygiene and safety of go much farther and at greater speed.
Technology has re-defined
players, support staff and a host of interactions — both professional and
It is my belief that every professional
others who were not often thought personal during covid. Tech will have
sports person (in almost any discipline
of — the camera crew, referee, the biggest and lasting impact on
of sport) will be sporting a wearable
commentators amongst others sports post covid.
within the next 24 to 30 months. A lot
• Emerging protocols for remote of them already do and this is only
Driven by technology, 7 big themes
training — even in lockdown/ going to accelerate.
will emerge in the business of sports.
quarantine you can’t slack.
The extent of usage both for the
• New/neutral venues: Staples
1. Organizational efficiency individual as well as the
Center and Madison Square team/organization they represent will
Establishments have long been seen not only cover the areas related to
Garden (MSG) gave way to
as stooped in old world approach - performance but also help manage
Disneyland for NBA, Dubai, Abu
meetings, committees, protocols, injury — prevention, recovery and
Dhabi and Sharjah were getting
etc. Credit to the administrators of through deep data analytics a lot
ready to host IPL - for a second
sport across the world, for the more meaning will emerge from the
time in 6 years.
nimbleness and efficiency they wealth of data.
showed is commendable. They have
• New order of logistics & planning
got sport back in the park and in your
accompanied the frenzy of sport
living rooms.
3. Amateur meets Sports
returning.
Tech
At an overall organization level,
• Seemingly the world was keen to
efficiency improvements will be seen There is a huge influx of tech in
get fans back and focus on fans
in administration, coaching methods, amateur and recreational sports.
dramatically improved/ is
better player regimes, organizational Early adoption was seen largely in
improving in the areas of health,
work processes amongst a host of amateur sports in the disciplines of
safety and convenience.
other areas.With a little more time, running, golf, swimming & cycling.
experience and even
education/better understanding the A lot of other disciplines are fast
collective of people and entities seeing an influx of sports tech in
called organizations can unleash the amateur and recreational sports.
power of technology for greater good. Entrepreneurs like Vishal Gondal of
GoQii to sporting legends like Anil
Kumble (Spektacom) amongst others
are bringing alive the conversations in
recreational and amateur sports with Standalone digital monetization can With passionate and engaged fans
data and improving the emerge as a strong suite for and great content to boot, teams
performance even at that level. clubs/teams/athletes if organized and leagues are sitting on a potential
right. NBA has shown it with NFT gold mine. Currently there are no
Another area which is fast growing collectible in Top shots. There will be a efforts being made by
and highly relevant is the ‘uber for rush to replicate this success and it will teams/leagues to assimilate or
sports’ opportunity — connecting be worth following this development aggregate fan information. What
venues, coaches, playing partners closely in the months to come. started of as getting some off-live
for amateur/recreational athletes. content on social media has not
With increasing facilities for sports like spiraled to near private life of
5. Race for first party data
badminton, football (5x5), basketball players/athletes being on display on
and other sports there is a large With increasing concerns around social media platforms. This is only
market to help athletes discover and privacy, many welcome enriching the platform.
connect. Companies like PlayO developments are happening in the
have shown demonstrable success Marketing and AdTech (MadTech) Teams will move to enhancing their
and business opportunity that exists in world. Apple’s welcome initiative on understanding of fans and knowing
this space. privacy and consent, Google ending who are their fans. A collective of
targeting through cookies effective teams in any pro-league along with
Amateur meets sport tech is currently the league can be a strong
end of this year and moving to FLoC
under leveraged in a large & monetizable platform.This will require
(Federated Learning of Cohorts) are
unorganized sports market like India a shared goal and getting them on
telltale signs on the power of
and provides a host of ground up the same page.
ownership of data.
entrepreneurial opportunity.
Owning First Party data will mean you
4. Focus on monetizing fans will have the temple keys.

Fan monetization is currently restricted

to match day — tickets, F&B and to a
very small extent merchandising.
There is very little effort (and hence
returns) in monetizing fans beyond
the obvious.

Tech giants have increasingly &

seamlessly moved into the monetizing
fan chatter. Facebook Venues, Snap
Chats, shoulder content and other
such platforms are realizing the value
in monetizing off-live content where
the real second screen engagement
happens.

Athletes, clubs etc. have only

followings and Likes to show and little
revenue save for the promoted posts
where the athletes are compensated.

Almost all clubs/teams in professional

leagues rely on central revenue
which accounts for anywhere
between 60-90% of their revenues.
This also means they have little control
on a large portion of their revenues.
Technology solutions such as of top 3 football leagues in the world In my view there are a) games that
blockchain can greatly aid this only available on a niche OTT player you can play only on digital mediums
process and help monetize this Fan code is telling. Followed by NZ (mobile or console) such as DOTA,
invaluable asset that teams have - cricket rights with Amazon (sub LOL etc. and b) games that you play
their fans. licensed to a short-term deal to Fan in real life which have a digital version
code), WI cricket (non India such as FIFA, eNBA, WCC, etc.
6. Content monetization featuring) moving away from
television and large platforms to The former is a large buffet and I
Content monetization in sports from much smaller audience monetizable would qualify the ones which
an Indian context has largely been platforms is here to stay. requiring skill under that leaving aside
driven by advertising. This has largely many of the games which are
led to value of the sport being From a team/league standpoint, chance based whilst the latter is
pegged basis high reach and localized content monetization un/under exploited currently. Save for
engagement leading to a lot of other in-venue will emerge — connected football, there are not many sports
quality sports beaten down on real stadium/venues is a local played in real life which has a
monetizable value. monetization opportunity hereto high-quality e-version.
unexploited. Venues need to look at
With a large digital audience base partnerships with tech companies to With pervasiveness of mobile the
and significant subscription drive on leverage these large opportunities. large opportunity for e-versions of
digital platforms sport will remain an For that we need the fans to be back sports is one to look out for in the
attractive content to own for OTT in stadiums, but the opportunity is right years to come.
players. Subscription based here and to be prepared for that day.
monetization will play an increasingly The 7 themes listed above are not
exhaustive by any means and
significant role in sport content 7. eSports goes mobile
acquisitions going forward. developments are happening at
Garnering much attention while rapid speed in many other areas. In
Added to that will be ‘satchet content’ evolving structures is the whole area respect of advertisers, these are some
monetization. Newer platforms will of eSports. General trend of anyone of the areas to watch. I am sure in 12
leverage the long tail of high quality in gaming space (skill based or months’ time, when the next edition
albeit small audience sports content otherwise) wants to classify of Sporting Nation comes out,
moving to a pay per view/pay per themselves under this banner and sporting world may be a different
event/match formats. Early trend can hopefully get more legitimacy and place — a better one than it is today.
be seen with Bundesliga, one ride the wave.
For the sporting world, 2020 was supposed to be the year of Tokyo Olympics,
Euro Soccer, World Indoor Athletics Championships, and many high-profile
annual competitions. For the Indian cricket fans, the ICC T20 World Cup was a
keenly awaited spectacle. As the pandemic hit us, out of the blue, the
industry was badly stricken, as many events, including all of the
above-mentioned ones, were pushed to 2021. For a while, it seemed that no
sports competition would be held for many months. The sports world was
down, but we hung in there, improvised, and stayed in the game. Soon,
sporting action was back with a new set of conditions. The Sports Sponsorship
industry in 2020 had to bear the brunt of the crisis, but it bounced back
towards the end of the year with a clear message that we can’t be tied down
for long, through grit and spirit of innovation.

Taking Charge when the going gets tough

The Sports Sponsorship spends in Down Under in the second half of the
2020 was to the tune of INR 1673 Cr year. A title win there would have
($ 226 Mn). A little over half of it been a huge fillip for our fans who
came from Ground Sponsorship, an have been eagerly waiting for a
amount of INR 850 Cr ($ 115 Mn). The major win at an ICC tourney. In
rest of the amount can be attributed March, the spread of the Covid-19
to Team Sponsorship - INR 646 Cr ($ 87 virus reached levels that made it
Mn) and Franchise Fee - INR 177 Cr ($ virtually impossible for all sports,
24 Mn). Cricket is India’s most including cricket, to be played. This
popular sport; with the fan base it was a tough phase for all, and it was
enjoys in our country, it accounts for important to bring the action back
a huge share of eyeballs, and on the field. In India, cricket has the
therefore, generates a ability to lift the spirits of our people in
commensurable share of the a way only it can. With events like the
sponsorship revenue too. As 2020 Bundesliga resuming action,
began, it held a lot of promise for our planning was already in place to get
national team, with an cricket back on the field. The Indian
action-packed calendar of bilateral Premier League (IPL), the most keenly
contests along with the T20 World awaited franchise cricket fiesta in
Cup that was scheduled to be held the world, was finally back in
September. As the adage goes - were insurmountable, considering looked increasingly competitive last
"When the going gets tough, the the timelines involved, as a result of year as Dream11 became the Title
tough gets going". With new safety which there was significant impact Sponsor at Super Smash, New
protocols, which included the on domestic cricket. In fact, two Zealand’s top T20 league. The
players being kept secure in promising T20 events, Tamil Nadu fantasy sport unicorn also became a
bio-bubbles, and the grounds not Premier League (TNPL) and sponsor at Australia's Big Bash
being opened to fans, the world’s Karnataka Premier League (KPL) League. Giving them company was
top cricketing league was played in could not be held in 2020. At the another Indian brand - BKT Tyres. Not
three venues in the UAE- Dubai, Abu same time, it was pleasing to see that to be left behind, My11Circle also
Dhabi and Sharjah. With a host of the inaugural season of two new made their presence felt by
tech-enabled innovations at the leagues were held successfully- becoming the Title Sponsor at the
event, the broadcast had a treat for Odisha Cricket League and Lanka Premier League. With these
the fans who were watching the Jharkhand Premier League. top fantasy gaming apps jostling for
games in the comfort of their homes, attention at the top of the
with fan walls, virtual tickets, Fantasy Sports platforms have been sponsorship pyramid, this is certainly
Augmented Reality (AR) experiences gaining traction with the Indian fans indicative of a major trend with
and other such engagement efforts. in recent years. In terms of many more such platforms entering
To lift Indian sports amidst troubled sponsorship involvement, this trend the field, offering innovative fan
times, cricket had to lead from the reached a crescendo with Dream11 engagement models, and fighting
front; and it did exactly that, showing securing the Title Sponsor rights at IPL for their share of voice in cricket.
the way for other sports. The Indian 2020. The onrush of fantasy platforms
Men’s Team travelled to Australia later had its influence on Team India’s
in the year, signifying the resumption sponsor list too; the year saw MPL
of international fixtures too. Sports replacing Nike as the Kit
Sponsor of the Indian Cricket Team
In India’s Sports Sponsorship innings through a three-year contract
last year, Cricket took a major share valued at INR 120 Cr ($ 16 Mn). Paytm
of the strike and scored almost First Games also made a strong entry
two-third of the team’s total- 64% of into the fray by sponsoring the first
sponsorship spends came from season of the Ultimate Kricket
cricket, with the scoreboard showing Challenge which was successfully
INR 1069 Cr ($ 144 Mn). With the held in UAE; along with Lifebuoy, a
pandemic giving us a dark phase in brand that has a
the middle of the year and a very consumer
unfriendly sporting calendar overall, promise that
2020 was an outlier year in terms of resonated with
sponsorship spends, one that was not the needs of
comparable to any one of the the times that 2020
preceding ones. The Indian Men’s represented. In keeping
Cricket Team played only 25 with recent trends of
matches last year, less than half of FinTech and EdTech
the 2019 count of 54. Among the platforms making
matches missed were the games we significant investments
would have played in the T20 World in sporting properties,
Cup, making the loss IPL 2020 saw Cred and
disproportionate to the number of Unacademy signing as
games we missed. The IPL on the Official Partners. 2020 also
other hand, was a huge success with saw considerable levels of
all teams selling out their sponsorship investment by Indian
inventories in the event that brands in overseas
coincided with the festive season in cricketing action. While
India. As many as 185 Team Hero Moto Corp continued
Sponsorship deals were made, which their association as the Title
accounted for over INR 350 Cr ($ 47 sponsor at the Caribbean
Mn). Considering the fact that there Premier League (CPL), we
was serious probability of the event also saw eight Indian
being cancelled, these are huge brands advertising their
amounts. However, the challenges products in our cricket
of percolating some of these team’s Australian tour. The
breakthroughs to lower level events fantasy gaming space
Setting the ball rolling on incentivized to associate themselves in which marathons contributed
with properties like the English Premier significantly to On Ground Spends; in
Indian soil League (EPL). For instance, Apollo fact, it was the third highest
Tyres and Gulf Oil strengthened their contributor after cricket and football.
The success of the IPL gave us the
association with Manchester United, The Mumbai Marathon was a big hit
belief that sports competitions with
one of the most popular clubs in the in January 2020, before the
Indian interests of the highest order
world. While Covid brought things to lockdown. Later in the year, as
can indeed be held successfully in a
a full stop briefly, European Football sporting action was coming back,
post-Covid world, and in fact, was a
was quick to bounce back; similarly, we saw the success of other runs too
great demonstration of best
in the case of India, it was the world – like Hyderabad Marathon (August),
practices in this regard. The scale of
most popular team sport that gave a Delhi Half Marathon (November),
the property also helped in shifting
clear demonstration of how to Bangalore 10k (November) and
the event to UAE, where many
manage the show for a major Kolkata Marathon (December). The
challenges related to the pandemic
sporting event on home soil, through Tata Group continued to lend
were mitigated. This option, however,
the success of the ISL. support to this participative sport in a
is something that is not available to
year that saw rising awareness for the
leagues with smaller budgets. The first
need to stay fit and to build
sports league that happened in India
post the outbreak of Covid-19 was You win some, immunity. While Tata was the title
sponsor for the Mumbai Marathon
the Indian Super League (ISL), the you lose some early in the year, TCS donned the hat
premier franchise-based football
for Bangalore 10K and Tata Steel did
competition in the country. The fact With the position of pre-eminence
the honors for the Kolkata leg of the
that the event got underway in that cricket enjoys in the country,
event towards the end of 2020.
November was indeed and with the reach and increasing
Dribbling on to hockey, 2020 was a
commendable considering the following for footballing action here,
year that started on a promising
severity of the situation in India at the IPL and ISL were shining beacons
note; the FIH event got underway in
that point in time, given factors like in a troubled year. The other sports,
January and was progressing well
population density and the spread of collectively referred to here as
before it was cruelly halted by the
the pandemic. To reduce the event Emerging Sports because of their
pandemic; and we had to wait till
entropy, it was restricted to Goa, with stage of evolution with respect to
September for the event to be
matches happening in three venues commercialization, did not have an
resumed. On a happy note for the
only – Fatorda, Bambolim and equally fruitful 2020. They contributed
game, the year saw the Odisha
Vasco. While this event scored many to only 14% of total Sponsorship
Government, Hero and Dream11
goals, the same cannot be told of Spends, accounting for an amount of
continuing their association with
other footballing events in India. The INR 242 Cr ($ 33 Mn). Kabaddi was
Indian hockey. In Tennis, the
I-League which has great contests badly affected in 2020; the Pro
Maharashtra Open was held
and passionate fan following for the Kabaddi, since its inception in 2014,
successfully in February with the
home teams, had a rough tackle has been a prominent part of our
support of Tata Sons, who were the
from the virus and could not be held sports calendar. Unfortunately, there
Title Sponsors. While the IPL and the
last year; like the other domestic were major challenges with the
ISL were major breakthroughs, 2020
tournaments in the country. hosting of this indoor sport in the
was a year that saw eight Premier
backdrop of the pandemic, and
Football, at an overall level, saw INR Leagues (including the ones
hence it could not be held; same
362 Cr ($ 49 Mn) worth sponsorship mentioned earlier) not happening-
being the case with the Indo
spends in 2020, which was 22% of the Pro Kabaddi, Indo International
International Premier Kabaddi
total amount, a number that looked Premier Kabaddi League, Premier
League (IIPKL) too. Badminton too
impossible at one stage. Hero Moto Badminton League, Pro Volleyball
saw cancellation of major events; the
Corp continued their strong League, Pro Wrestling League,
Premier Badminton League (PBL) and
association with the game; they were Ultimate Table Tennis, Big Bout Indian
Indian Open were Covid casualties in
the ISL Title Sponsors in 2020 also, Boxing League and X1 Racing
2020. Along with Kabaddi and
contributing to an approximate League.
Badminton, Golf also suffered
amount of INR 30 Cr ($ 4 Mn) to the setbacks at the hands of the virus.
event’s Central Sponsorship tally were 2020 saw the cancellation of the
the Official Partners – DHL (Associate Men’s Indian Open, Women’s Indian
Sponsor), Bisleri, Apollo Tyres, Nivia, Open and PGTI Golf Tournament,
Dream11, Himalaya. Byjus and along with other PGTI events.
Lenskart. As football fans in the
country continue to follow the game Among the happy stories of the year
at the highest level on media, Indian was the good run that Marathons
brands are increasingly getting had in the country. 2020 was a year
2021: Scoring runs as the wicket improves

2020 started with the anticipation of to the formation of certain habits too; of the events in the country that we
another good year for Indian sports, for instance, as people were can indeed do it. As a result, we are in
on the back on some strong housebound with limited a much better position now than we
performances in 2019, on the field as entertainment options, online were six months back. The pandemic
well as on the business side too. With gaming gained ground with the had hit all nations in the world, for the
a host of events lined up and our youth of our nation. We were down, first time since the World War II, we saw
athletes well-placed to do well in but certainly not out. The crisis pushed the Olympic Games not being held.
many of them, expectations were us to think out of the box and made it But, what matters now is that
sky-high. The Covid-19 pandemic was easier for us to embrace changes. quadrennial events slated earlier for
totally unexpected, and a humbling The sports world was quick to bounce 2020 are now being planned for 2021,
experience for all of us. The focus was back with additional safety protocols and annual fixtures that were
on life and livelihood for many, with in place. cancelled last year, will mark their
business overdrive taking a back return this year. Hence, 2021 is going to
seat. The sports industry involves high In India, the IPL and the ISL showed be the year in which we are going to
physical contact among athletes, lots the way in terms of managing the recover a lot of lost opportunities of the
of travelling, and potential for large constraints of the new normal. The previous year. There are many reasons
crowd gathering - all elements that biggest change was that the doors that gives us the confidence in this
go against the requirements of social of the stadium were closed to the regard; the Covid vaccine rollout
distancing that was the need of the fans. This was something that was being just one part of it. What will really
hour. As we went into a lockdown, inconceivable in a pre-Covid stand us in good stead are the
there was complete stoppage of world, just like ‘Work From Home’ experiences of 2020 which have
sporting action and out of these was, for the society at large. This certainly made us stronger, and more
trying circumstances, we saw some desperate situation triggered the determined to bounce back with
good outcomes too. The sports world implementation of a host of renewed vigour.
came together and our sporting innovations aimed at engaging the
icons used their online clout to fans who follow the sport on media. It
engage with fans on social media, took sports properties of the magnitude
just what was needed to soothe a of India’s leading cricket and football
hurting nation. This phase contributed leagues to give confidence to the rest
 GROUND SPONSORSHIP

850
2020 (INR Cr)
115
2020 (USD Mn)

TEAM SPONSORSHIP CRICKET

646
2020 (INR Cr)
87
2020 (USD Mn)
1,069 144
2020 (INR Cr) 2020 (USD Mn)

TEAM FRANCHISE FEE FOOTBALL

177
2020 (INR Cr)
24
2020 (USD Mn)
362 49
2020 (INR Cr) 2020 (USD Mn)

TOTAL EMERGING SPORTS

1,673
2020 (INR Cr)
226
2020 (USD Mn)
242
2020 (INR Cr)
33
2020 (USD Mn)

TOTAL

• Source – GroupM ESP

1,673
2020 (INR Cr)
226
2020 (USD Mn)

• 2020 Conversion Rate 1$ = Rs 74

• Contribution of Cricket in Sponsorship spends • Kabbadi, Golf and Badminton were the worst
was 64%, whereas Football and Other Emerging affected
Sports contributed 24% and 14% respectively
• Apart from Football, Marathons contributed the
• Fantasy Gaming Apps fought tooth and nail for maximum for On Ground Spends
greater share of voice in Cricket
 TV RATINGS 3.78 Indian
Premier League

0.33 Indian
Super League

TV REACH 404,714 Indian

Premier League

93,224 Indian
Super League

SOCIAL
CONVERSATIONS
16,400 Indian
Premier League

1,040 Indian
Super League

SEARCH
VOLUMES 259,704 Indian
Premier League

1,092 Indian
Super League

FACEBOOK 21,000 Indian

Premier League

4,200 Indian
Super League

TWITTER
5,900 Indian
Premier League

754 Indian
Super League

INSTAGRAM 5,400 Indian

Premier League

1,100 Indian
Super League

*ISL data is till December 2020

All numbers are in Thousands except TV Ratings

• Source – GroupM ESP

• Source for TVR & Reach – BARC, TG – 2+, ALL NCCS, All India
 IPL TV TV Social Search
Franchise Ratings Reach Conversations Volumes Facebook Twitter Instagram
Chennai Super Kings 4.2 313,300 9,640 10,997 12,000 6,500 6,300

Mumbai Indians 4.1 332,266 4,330 7,476 13,000 6,200 6,300

Royal Challengers 3.7 270,022 6,370 2,131 9,400 4,200 5,500

Bangalore

Kolkata Knight Riders 3.4 278,966 2,080 5,108 16,000 4,200 2,200

Sunrisers Hyderabad 3.6 300,750 2,060 1,612 6,083 2,400 2,100

Kings XI Punjab 3.9 312,707 1,290 1,605 8,500 2,300 1,900

Delhi Capitals 3.8 313,470 1,510 2,686 6,900 1,700 2,100

Rajasthan Royals 3.5 294,147 1,490 2,000 4,200 1,400 1,400

ISL TV TV Social Search

Franchise Ratings Reach Conversations Volumes Facebook Twitter Instagram

Kerala Blasters FC 0.5 49,463 408 177 1,100 1,800 1,300

Bengaluru FC 0.3 36,833 181 636 366 284 256

Chennaiyin FC 0.3 36,528 238 1,163 464 878 307

ATK Mohun Bagan 0.4 48,934 43 437 560 373 94

FC Goa 0.3 38,173 168 916 459 343 323

Hyderabad FC 0.3 36,263 80 248 66 14 65

Mumbai City FC 0.3 36,283 92 463 571 178 180

Odisha FC 0.3 34,063 81 237 23 15 58

NorthEast United FC 0.3 37,826 27 293 358 432 186

Jamshedpur FC 0.3 38,636 75 274 123 28 131

SC East Bengal 0.4 36,749 103 61 1,313 255 96

*ISL data is till December 2020 Source – GroupM ESP. Source for TVR &
All numbers are in Thousands except TV Ratings Reach – BARC, TG – 2+, ALL NCCS, All India

IPL Franchises ISL Franchises

Thanks to MS Dhoni announcing retirement, early While  Kerala Blasters FC  and  ATK Mohun Bagan  top the
exits of key squad members from the team’s charts when it comes to TV Reach; debutant SC East Bengal 
bio-secure bubble and everything that ensued is the flag bearer of legacy football club with the highest
during the season, Chennai Super Kings outshouted Facebook followers.
their fellow IPL franchises on social media in terms of
In terms of social media footprint, Kerala Blasters FC sets the
conversations and search volumes. Clear indication
gold-standard for the rest of the franchises to emulate.
of strong sporting franchises delinking their popularity
with on-field performance.
 Like most things in Indian sport, Team sponsorships and new leagues being
Sponsorships can also be broadly launched. While major events like the
clubbed under two categories: Tokyo Olympics, Euro 2020 and
Authored by:
Cricket and Non-Cricket sports, both Wimbledon got impacted, closer
at opposite ends of the spectrum in home, we saw most leagues except
terms of popularity and brand interest. for the IPL and the Indian Super
With Team India sponsorship assets League (ISL) shelved for the year with
and Indian Premier League (IPL) uncertainty around their return. With
especially its franchises continuing to Matchday and Broadcast revenues
see impressive growth, cricket traditionally contributing a small
remains by far the most popular fraction of a non-cricket sport
sport for brands and marketers to franchise’s revenues, teams rely
target for their spends. The way the heavily on sponsorships and with no
Mr. Mustafa Ghouse
IPL was able to rope in a title sponsor matches taking place and fans not in
CEO, JSW Sports within a short span of time, in the attendance, this will prove to be a
middle of a global pandemic and difficult period for those invested in
economic slowdown, is testament to Indian sport to see through. I
the value and ‘recession-proof’ wouldn’t go as far as saying that it’s
nature of cricket in India. The fact only all gloomy though, and there
that IPL was top of the 2020 Google are silver linings that are appearing
trends list in India, ahead of even from these dark clouds.
coronavirus, is probably an apt
indicator of the craze. They say necessity is the mother of
invention and this pandemic has
Having said that, sport events being acted as a catalyst for the adoption
such a fundamental part of the of newer, innovative means of
business has meant that the impact partnerships and brand activations,
of COVID-19 is especially hard on the which are promising signs for the
global sports industry. In India, it future of sports marketing in India.
threatens to derail the momentum Focus on digital and content
that some non-cricket sports had marketing led activations for brands
begun to see through corporate produced some fantastic results
during the IPL. Some of these are also shifting; brands are wary of sport. Edu-tech, fantasy gaming and
being seen in the ISL and I am controversial areas like news betting are no longer fringe players in
confident that more such use of channels, whose reputations have the market, and this trend looks set to
targeted, technology-led innovations taken a hit due to the TRP scandal, continue, something the wider sports
will drive the future of team and while GEC shows continue to be industry should look to use to their
sponsorships in Indian sport. top-rated, the migration to OTT benefit. Business continuity here would
platforms is slowly but surely taking be key, and it would be noteworthy to
The added advantage of having audiences away. observe how the legislative aspects of
clearly measurable impact indicators this evolve, since some of these newer
and ROI through standard industry Within this scenario, there exists an entrants are operating in a potentially
metrics- views, impressions, reach, exciting opportunity for live sport on tough regulatory environment.
engagement etc, have made digital TV, which should benefit team
the new frontier for promising growth sponsorships in the near future. With the world returning to normalcy,
in sport and India is well placed to Additionally, the shift to Direct we expect sporting action in India to
capitalise on this. Similarly, nothing -to-Consumer models through the resume in earnest in 2021, with existing
comes close to the attractiveness of influx of OTT platforms opens countless and new leagues being lined up.
live sport on TV; the ad rates on the possibilities for rights holders to There will be an emphasis on growth
Star network during the IPL and the monetize their assets. and more players looking to enter, all
record viewership numbers show that of whom will have to work extremely
there is no bigger media property in Another interesting aspect has been hard to get back on track. Having
India than the IPL, which is why it will the flood of new category pressed the reset button in 2020, most
always be a favourite among brands companies entering the Indian leagues and teams would be looking
which identify sports marketing as an sporting arena. With the Indian forward to returning to their fields of
important part of their marketing mix. start-up economy booming, and play with a renewed vigour, one that
Besides, we are at a stage now where popular global betting companies brands and sponsors would be well
avenues for advertising on TV are also entering the country through advised to keep track off. While
surrogates, there is now a plethora of cricket will continue to rule the roost,
brands looking at investing in Indian the gap with other sports looks set to
be bridged gradually as we become
more of a sporting nation.
Authored by:

The season 2019-20 and the period Mumbai City FC won the league
after that has been trying for Football stage of ISL and will play in the next
across the world including India. year AFC champions league. Hero
Many international events like FIFA I-League is also being held in Kolkata
U-17 Women’s World Cup scheduled since January 2021, again after
Mr. Kushal Das to be in February 2020 in India was conforming the strict Covid
General Secretary, postponed and likely to be held now protocols. In the meantime, U17
All Indian Football Federation in 2022 for which dates are yet to be men’s team went for the exposure
confirmed. Similarly, AFC U16 trip to Dubai, where they played with
championship which is the Asia the national team with UAE.
qualifiers for the FIFA U-17 Men’s Women’s senior team went to Turkey
World Cup has been cancelled in February 2021, to play an
which is a big blow to the team as international tournament with Serbia,
they were expected to qualify on Russia and Uzbekistan who ranked
merits for the U-17 world cup after a much higher in the FIFA ranking. So,
sterling performance in the AFC despite the huge Covid restriction,
qualifiers which they won every effort was made to ensure the
convincingly. The remaining FIFA sport doesn’t suffer but keeping in
World Cup qualifiers for the senior mind all necessary Covid protocols.
men’s team have been postponed
to June 2020 to be held at Qatar as Indian club football has now a very
were the AFC women’s qualifier. good roadmap wherein in some
However, despite the big problem years there will be a single league
and Covid restriction, the AIFF was with promotion and relegation. Since
the first organization to restart this year at least 3 Indian teams will
sporting activity in India by participate in AFC champions
conducting the I-League qualifier in league and AFC cup competiton
October 2020 in Kolkata under very which will be a big boost for Indian
strict Covid protocols. Football. The Hero IWL (Women’s
League) will be played in an
Mohammedan Sporting club of extended format in Odisha which will
Kolkata was qualified to play for the now allow many more matches for
Hero I-League. Soon thereafter, the the club. India will host the AFC
Hero ISL commenced in Goa from women’s Asian cup in January –
November 2020 again under strict February 2022 as well as FIFA U-17
protocols. This was the first Hero ISL Women’s World Cup in 2022.
whereby two legacy clubs Mohun
Bagan and East Bengal participated The Youth development structure is
in line with the road map of Indian now well developed with teams in 3
club football as agreed between age groups playing in the national
AIFF, AFC and other stakeholders of leagues. Indian Arrows which is an
Indian Football. U-20 team, playing in the I-League
contribute regularly players to ISL
Current season of Hero ISL was a teams and many of them are part of
great success despite being without Senior National Team. In other words,
spectator and in a single venue. A Indian football now has a robust
number of Indian players came to structure and well poised to make a
the forefront who have now been mark in Asia and World Football in
included in the national team. the next few years.
While India‘s online gaming space has been seeing significant surge in recent years, it can
be considered as one of the few beneficiaries of the Covid-related restrictions that became
part of our lives last year. Even as this uptrend has been accentuated by evolving consumer
trends of 2020, we have also seen huge growth in advertising and sponsorship in this space.
With both endemic and non-endemic brands integrating the gaming opportunity into their
marketing mix, we are seeing the emergence of an e-sports ecosystem consisting of game
publishers, teams, bloggers, players, tournaments, streaming platforms and e-sports
platforms. Laced with strategic partnerships that took shape in 2020, the Indian esports
market looks poised for a phase of fast growth in coming years.

Authored by:

Mr. Subhamoy Das

Sr. Business Director,
GroupM ESP
The past decade has seen a On one hand, good quality of the number of gamers as well as
smartphones are now affordable, the time spent per user. There was a
huge growth in the habit of
and on the other, the reach and 11% week on week increase in the
online gaming in India. quality of internet service is improving number of users, and a 21% jump in
Industry data indicate that, by the day. India has a median age the time spent per user. Thus, the
since 2010, there has been a of 26.8, and with a young population pandemic played a role in the
in comparison with some of the other upsurge in gaming industry in the
14x rise in the number of
large gaming markets, we country by catalysing habit formation
online gamers in the country. accounted for 13% of gaming app among Indians, especially in the
As per reliable estimates, downloads in the world last year. 15-24 age group. Soon, there was a
there are around 312 Mn While such market dynamics and spike in the number of organized
demographic factors played a role, multiplayer competitions, leading to
gamers in India currently.
gaming – casual or professional – the evolution into an e-sports
Even though the usage seems to have received a significant ecosystem. With players participating
numbers include multiple fillip because of the unique as teams or as individuals, community
device type users, the key circumstances that came out of our building also happened in a way that
Covid-response practices. is characteristic of e-sports. To give
takeaway is that 81.5% are
an example to illustrate the extent of
mobile first gamers; and the While the pandemic brought in radical the swing, Gamerji, an e-sports
role of mobile phone shifts across the country and throttled platform, registered a spike in its daily
penetration in the gaming the pipe for live sports and fresh active users from 12K-15K
fictional content across platforms; pre-pandemic to 40K-50K during the
industry boom cannot be gaming industry got accelerated in its lockdown. On the back of the 2020
overemphasized. anyways skyrocketing growth upswing in e-sports, its gamer base
trajectory. Many Indians turned to and viewership has doubled over the
mobile gaming last year and it past three years even though the
became an ideal mood booster that Indian market is seen to be in a
kept the youngsters positive, happy nascent stage.
and distracted. The month of April
saw a steady increase both in terms
From an advertiser’s perspective, the sponsorship, hosting of events, leading streaming platforms like
Corona situation has pushed brands creation of content and partnerships YouTube, Twitch and Disney+ Hotstar.
to look for more non-traditional with clubs. Partnerships play a big role And as the viewing audience base
media opportunities and online in driving the e-sports ecosystem in grows, so does the heat amongst
games fitted the bill perfectly with the India and 2020 saw many of them gaming-only streaming platforms –
highly engaged audience they have. making an impact. For example, especially in regional language
In fact, reliable industry estimates Reliance Jio entered the e-sports space – the likes of Loco and Rheo.
place the 2020 advertising and market with a MediaTek tie-up for a Regional language streaming,
sponsorship growth in the gaming 70-day “Free Fire” Tournament with especially in Hindi, is seen to attract
space anywhere in the region of total prize pool of INR 12.5 Lakhs with huge numbers of Indian audience.
300-400%. Over the past few years the games being streamed live on The most popular event in India,
many endemic brands like Dell, Intel, JioTV and YouTube. In May of 2020, PUBG Mobile World League 2020,
Acer, Paytm First Games, Loco and Airtel announced its entry into the had 449K peak viewers, giving it the
NVIDA have supported the growth of gaming and esports space with Airtel third spot across the industry last year.
the e-sports industry, by leveraging India Esports Tour. Another significant In 2020, total e-sports prize money
their assets and offering support in the move that happened in 2020 was the earned worked out to an amount of
form of computer components, acquisition of the e-sports tech INR 76 lakhs ($ 102.7 K). While there
software, production assistance etc. company SoStronk by Dream Sports, are around 145 active e-sports
Also active in the e-sports arena is a the parent company of Dream11. players in India, the top ones are
host of non-endemic brands that Grandmaster Pentala Harikrishna
connect well with the target With an aggregate revenue of INR (Chess), Naman Mathur (Mortal),
audience because of their consumer 503 Cr ($ 68 Mn), India has a 9.8% Yash Paresh Soni (Viper), Mihir
promise. They include Red Bull, Coca share of the global market, as per (Ditterbitter) and Karan Mhawadkar
Cola, Mountain Dew, Bharti Airtel, industry reports. The estimated (Excali), to mention a few names.
Honda Two Wheelers, Mercedes audience size is 17 Mn in 2020 and it is
Benz, Disney+Hotstar, Louis Vuitton, a number that is fast growing on
Sony Liv and MTV. In fact, Red Bull has
a multi-pronged sponsorship
approach that involves player
As the industry is in a phase of rapid From a brand’s point of view,
growth, we see the next wave of swell when it looks at the e-sports
coming on the back of gaming and
esports turning into sustainable career
space, India offers a fresh
opportunities. The fag end of 2020, opportunity. There is a high
was a silver lining for esports as Asian number of casual gamers
Games 2022 announced it to be a
who are also e-sports viewers,
medal event. This move is expected
to catalyse legitimacy of gaming and the most hardcore fans
amongst socio-economic circles and provide a good base of
simultaneously boost the competitive young, engaged, and
landscape both in terms of
targetable consumers. The
participants and prize monies on
offer. In fact, our cyber athletes lag e-sports ecosystem offers
considerably behind their western multiple integration
counterparts when it comes to the opportunities at various levels.
matter of prize-fund based earnings.
The future looks bright, and
In terms of event management, we
need specialists to enter the e-sports there will be a lot of upside
arena, as they have the resources to for brands that look for
be able to deliver much higher marquee associations and
production value than the game
own multiple touch points
publishers. Further, the burgeoning
esports streaming viewer base is due in the e-sports
to accelerate gaming’s bid to be value chain.
considered as an ‘entertainment’
genre. However, this starts at an
individual level. Players need to be
able to market themselves better.
They are incredibly skilled, but they
need help to be able to translate
their abilities to matching levels of
follower base.
2020 was a year that saw our sporting icons lift the spirits of the nation amidst a pall of
gloom as the world was ravaged by the pandemic. Our cricketing heroes displayed
spontaneity and warmth as they engaged with the fans on social media when there
was no action on the field. Athlete endorsements bucked archetypal 2020 trends by
overhauling the tally of the previous year, fuelled primarily by cricket. With the
Olympic Games and many blue chip events getting cancelled, there was an
inevitable drop in the non-cricketing space. Many top female athletes continued
their good endorsement runs in a year that ended on a note of sanguinity for 2021.

Sports Celebrity Endorsements incredible 13% growth in cricketer

recorded a figure of INR 564 Cr ($ 76 endorsement in 2020, delivering a
Mn), indicative of a growth of 5% value of INR 517 Cr ($ 70 Mn). In
over 2019. This is an amazing fact, a total of 377 brand
achievement given the fact that we endorsements deals were made in
had many sports fixtures getting 2020, of which 275 involved
cancelled because of the Covid-19 cricketers. This is at an upside from
scourge. While we had businesses 2019 when we saw 329 deals being
across the board experiencing made, 228 of them with cricket stars.
shrinkage, the boom in this space Consequently, the year witnessed
bears testimony to the the cricketers gaining a greater
influence our leading share of the overall endorsement
sports stars have on pie in Indian sports, reaching 92%
our fans and the from the 2019 share of 85%.
commitment they
had shown to The Indian Cricket Team had an
stay connected action-packed schedule as 2020
with us in a commenced, a plan that was
difficult year like jeopardized by the contagion. With
this. On slicing a high number of away fixtures, it was
this data further, a challenging year for the boys, and
we find that this Virat Kohli led the squad admirably
YoY growth can as we reinforced our standing as a
be attributed force to reckon with in world cricket.
mainly to the In terms of endorsements, the Indian
Skipper continued to rake in the big cricket contributed to a humongous top guns scored heavily in terms of
bucks, crossing the INR 200 Cr ($ 27 58% share of the total athlete endorsements, adding new brands to
Mn) mark yet again. In a tough year endorsements spends in 2020. It has their lists and gaining in endorsement
for all, Virat lent his credibility to many been seven years since Sachin value were the rising stars of Indian
brands across different product Tendulkar decided to hang up his cricket – Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul
categories, and the poster boy of boots, but he continues to represent and Hardik Pandya. Many overseas
Indian cricket truly fortified his an emotion that connect very well cricket stars enjoyed good following
position as the most influential name with the Indian sports fans. The from the Indian fans in what can be
in Indian sports by quite a distance. master’s scorecard crossed INR 25 Cr termed as a coming of age year for
The person from whom Virat took ($ 3.4 Mn) as he ended the year as the business of fantasy sports in India.
over the reins of Team India, MS the third most successful athlete in Dream11, the Title Sponsor at IPL
Dhoni, had a good year from an terms of number of brands 2020, continued their association
endorsement perspective. 2020 must endorsed. Of the 275 deals involving with international stars like Ben
have been the year in which MS cricketers, 47 were new tie-ups, with Stokes, Jos Buttler, Quinton De Kock,
announced his retirement from 13 of them involving Rohit Sharma. Faf Du Plessis, Jonny Bairstow, Andre
international cricket, but his connect The Vice-Captain of the Indian Russell and Jason Holder. Among
with the fans continued unabated, white-ball team has built quite a women cricketers, the leader in
as evidenced by the confidence reputation for himself, and his terms of brand endorsements
bestowed on him by brands. As popularity with fans was leveraged continues to be Mithali Raj, a legend
Dhoni added three new brands to his well by brands in many high profile of the game.
kitty, the top two names in Indian campaigns on Indian TV. While these
The year of the Olympics throws up success enjoyed by these top
new stars in the Indian sporting galaxy, cricketers is proof of the power they
as seen in the past. When our athletes have with their fans, and if we go by
do us proud at the greatest sporting the happenings of 2020, it is safe to
event on the planet, they also get conclude that they have handled this
rewarded by the love of the fans and great power with great responsibility.
the concomitant success in the
endorsement space. With the virus Indian men’s cricket team ended
spreading the way it did last year, 2020 on an emphatic note by
many leading sports events had to be winning the Boxing Day test in
either cancelled or postponed to Melbourne, setting the stage for
2021. The Olympics didn’t happen, just some electrifying performances from
like many leading sports leagues in them in 2021. With the World Test
India. Consequently, there was a 43% Championship to be won, and with a
dip in the non-cricketing endorsement lot to play for at the World T20 Cup
space. Amidst the despondency that we will be hosting, we can
caused by the pandemic, it was expect fireworks from Virat’s boys this
heartening to see female athletes year. Big money will continue to
pulling in the brands, thereby chase the boys as corporate India
dominating the non-cricketing part of will be looking forward to associating
the pie. Successfully continuing their more with them as the economy
endorsement stints in 2020 were bounces back. 2020 lost many
prominent athletes on the distaff side - sporting events, and given the way
World Champion PV Sindhu, the the road ahead looks now, 2021 will
legendary Mary Kom, ace shuttler see them coming back to life. India is
Saina Nehwal, tennis star Sania Mirza, expected to put up a strong
Rio medalist Sakshi Malik, and the contingent at the Tokyo Games, and
incredibly talented Hima Das. The there are real prospects of a few
continued success of these stars is medals. As the sporting nation waits
proof of the fact that we are proud of eagerly in anticipation, the odds look
our champions, and their heavily stacked in favor of a strong
achievements will inspire more and upside in endorsements from
more girls to take up competitive non-cricketing athletes too, in 2021.
sports, reinforcing a sporting culture in
the nation irrespective of the gender
of the child.

An interesting shift that gained

momentum in 2020 was that many
sports stars were signing up for brands
in social media influencer roles; such
deals contributed to as much as 6%
of the total endorsement value for
the year. Also, we are observing the
early stages of a trend of athletes
engaging with brands for specific
campaigns, as against long-term
brand endorsement deals. As the
nation went into lockdown early in
the year, the fans were deprived of
any form of sporting action and in this
phase we saw top sportspersons using
their reach on social media to
engage with each other, and giving
us nuances of the games as well as
sharing with us other shades of their
personalities, something which was
welcomed with open arms by the
Indian sports fan. The commercial
456 65
2019 (INR Cr) 2019 (USD Mn)
81 12
2019 (INR Cr) 2019 (USD Mn)
CRICKET EMERGING
517 70
2020 (INR Cr) 2020 (USD Mn)
SPORTS
46 6
2020 (INR Cr) 2020 (USD Mn)

537 77
2019 (INR Cr) 2019 (USD Mn)
TOTAL
563 76
2020 (INR Cr) 2020 (USD Mn)

• Source – GroupM ESP

• 2019 Conversion Rate 1$ = Rs 70
• 2020 Conversion Rate 1$ = Rs 74

• Endorsement industry grew by 5% • 92% of Total Brand Endorsements have come

from Cricketers
• While Cricketers endorsement grew by 13%,
other athletes lost 43% share • 58% of Total Brand Endorsements are from Virat
Kohli & MS Dhoni
• Total of 377 brand endorsement deals have
happened, out of which 275 endorsements • Influencer activity on Social Media has gain
were signed up by cricketers prominence, contributing 6% of the total
endorsement value
 Social Search
Athletes Category Conversations Volumes Facebook Twitter Instagram

Virat Kohli Cricket 12,500 22,470 43,375 40,500 99,267

M S Dhoni Cricket 9,840 14,165 24,856 8,100 30,400

Rohit Sharma Cricket 5,490 13,826 17,000 18,500 17,500

Hardik Pandya Cricket 1,230 10,459 7,900 6,400 16,200

KL Rahul Cricket 1,610 4,942 7,080 5,300 9,200

Jasprit Bumrah Cricket 921 3,688 6,800 3,200 6,200

Shikhar Dhawan Cricket 983 3,809 15,000 5,700 7,900

Rishabh Pant Cricket 578 3,811 4,196 2,100 4,200

Ravichandran Ashwin Cricket 611 1,294 4,000 10,200 2,700

Shreyas Iyer Cricket 606 6,459 728 1,100 4,200

Social Search
Athletes Category Conversations Volumes Facebook Twitter Instagram

P V Sindhu Badminton 326 1,196 2,400 2,900 1,700

Saina Nehwal Badminton 341 1,381 8,200 8,500 1,500

Mihtali Raj Cricket 193 1,621 3,453 782 1,400

Harmanpreet Kaur Cricket 141 873 2,000 359 801

Mary Kom Boxing 85 1,044 3,581 1,400 254

Hima Das Athletics 119 609 635 407 345

Sakshi Mali Wrestling 146 1,140 729 503 156

Source – GroupM ESP

All numbers are in Thousands

Athletes – Cricket
The Kohli – Dhoni duet: in 2020 the Kohli-Dhoni duo King Kohli  – When it comes to social media King Kohli is in a
generated 1.8x times more social conversation in league of his own. He well and truly eclipses his compatriots
comparison to the next 8 top cricketers in the on Facebook and Twitter. When it comes to Instagram, in
country – thanks to fatherhood on one end and 2020, the team India captain had more followers than the
retirement from International duties on the other. combined might of the next 9 top cricketers – including MS
Dhoni & Rohit Sharma.
The year 2020 was anticipated to be an exciting and fast-paced year for the sports
industry, featuring two marquee events on the international calendar: The Tokyo
Olympics and the World T20. Instead, it turned out to be a Test - of character,
relationships, spirit, vision and approach. The trajectory of sports business
evolution entered a world of unknown for the entire ecosystem.

Celebrity Endorsements: The Go to Tool

Celebrity endorsement has always to endorsements was to have a

been a key aspect of marketing in single star face representing the
India. This is clearly evidenced by the brand, with only a few exceptions
fact that over 50% of endorsements in proving the rule.
India feature celebrities, compared
to, say, the United States, where this This has slowly changed over the last
number hovers around 20%. With the decade. Today, in recognition of the
increased consumption of television diversity of this country, the celebrity
and rapid adoption of social media as endorsement space has evolved
a marketing tool, the last decade has from being focused on a single star
Authored by:
witnessed both significant growth and face for the brand to often selecting
evolution of the Indian endorsement multiple faces. This allows the brand
space. In terms of growth, as per to reach out to a broader audience,
industry reports, over the past segmented and targeted as per their
decade, the number of celebrity-led internal audience splits. Gillette’s
endorsements has increased at a ‘Break The Beard’ and Dream11’s IPL
steady rate of around 15-16% campaign are classic examples,
year-on-year. Historically dominated wherein a brand has signed multiple
by film stars, the endorsement market celebrities to endorse a campaign.
witnessed sports stars (to be read as
Mr. Nikhil Bardia
cricketers) occupying an increasingly This shift from one star to multiple stars
Head of Sales and Talent larger share. has also been supplemented by a
Business, RISE Worldwide shift in the business model governing
Equally interesting has been how these partnerships. Traditionally,
endorsements have evolved. An brands would sign the biggest
endorsement deal traditionally athletes for a fixed term engagement
focused on utilizing an athlete’s IP, with a consistent fee. However, the
in-person offline appearances at rapid emergence of start-ups and
launch events, shoots, fan expansion of business sectors and
engagements and shows. Social categories has led to innovative
media engagement was generally strategic partnerships with tools like
bundled, as add on value, to these equity stakes, royalty and other similar
primary deliverables. Further, in collaborations finding increasing
almost each instance, the approach acceptance and adoption.
The Pandemic Empathy, Trust & You
Pandemonium: An Empathy meant that 2020 became the brand ‘I’, but the stakeholder
Empathetic Approach all about trust and belief in time and ‘You’. Inspirational and empathetic
in long term partnerships. There were messaging overtook sales
The stalled 2020 resulted in brands two things that people were looking conversations. This was ‘the new
finding it tough to sustain, let alone, forward to – unlock of the lockdown normal’ for everyone and held
increase their top and bottom line and the Covid vaccine. But, what till relevance. Suddenly, in adversity,
numbers. There was a significant the dawn of the vaccine? the interests of athletes, brands and
unknown, which everyone was audiences were perfectly aligned. A
exposed to. Resultantly, marketing The sustenance of partnerships, new tool was unlocked – of
budgets took a hit and brands based on transparency and emotional connect, of giving a level
became wary of celebrity innovation, opened new avenues. of freedom to a celebrity, which she
endorsements basis longevity and For instance, Athletes felt increasingly would otherwise not have. They
RoIs. To cater to the unknown, brands empowered to promote, highlight became the voice of relevance to
were forced to identify ways of and campaign social issues and talk to fans and business partners.
reducing short term costs, including causes close to their heart. Research Take for example, Rohit Sharma,
celebrity endorsements. shows that 95% of athletes in the where he created self-shot videos
world with more than five million during lockdown for Hotstar, in which
An unfortunate, but understandable followers on Instagram, advocated he spoke about the Avengers or
reaction, from several brands was to for causes on social media in 2020, about saving the ocean and saying
try and trigger Force Majeure clauses collectively generating US$314 million no to plastic straws as he sipped on
to exit their endorsement contracts. worth of Quality Indexed media water with his daughter. It was a
For others, that took a more long term value globally. Another report classic case of content innovation,
view, the approach was to ask for a showed that advocacy posts drove where the message isn’t necessarily
reduction in the endorsement fee or a 63% more engagement for brands. about ‘buy my product’ but an
reduction in the term of the contract emotional way to connect and talk
owing to the lockdown. Others began Brands realized the power of this to the audience at large.
to look at endorsements tactically, innovative tool to communicate with
rather than strategically, and sought their audiences during the
to sign athletes for one-off campaigns pandemic. In a world united by the
and projects. pandemic, it was no longer about

This is where empathy took over. For

us, at RISE Worldwide, it was natural to
reciprocate the trust vested in us and
our talent by our brand partners,
irrespective of whether the contracts
covered this situation or not. Rather
than debating Force Majeure clauses
and tactical plays, we worked with
our brand partners to help them
achieve their strategic objectives. At
RISE, we focused on finding solutions
that allowed the brand-talent
partnerships to be sustained –
enhanced deliverables, extended
contractual terms and deferred
payments were all on the table as we
looked to jointly overcome the
impact of the pandemic.
The Future is bright
Some changes alter paradigms entirely and the pandemic’s impact on celebrity endorsements has seen a permanent
seminal shift. The pandemic unlocked a vast canvas of opportunity to innovate for brands and athletes to unlock
additional value in endorsement deals. The industry will never go back to the service contract mentality- moving
forward, endorsement will now marry deliverables in traditional celebrity endorsement and innovations unlocked by
the pandemic, causing a steep increase in endorsements. Set out below are some seminal shifts that will become the
new normal:

Commercialising digital IPs: The

lockdown led to extensive usage of Emergence of young talent: The
social media by celebrities. Some, cricket market is currently dominated
who previously did not have any Innovative content: As we have by the big three – Rohit Sharma, Virat
presence on social media, Are now discussed, content has become Kohli and MS Dhoni. The flip side to
setup on these platforms. For more relevant and brands now have this was that the universe of
example, Kareena Kapoor took to a more data driven and far more categories to which they were
Instagram with immediate posts for nuanced understanding of what available had shrunk considerably.
Puma. People came to know, content works. Brands will realign With the expansion in the market and
connect and engage a lot more with ‘brand’ content and utilize newer acceleration in following and
their stars, be it seeing Rohit Sharma tools and methods for fan engagement, the younger brigade
play with his daughter or seeing engagement, be it via Live including the likes of Hardik Pandya,
Katrina Kaif scrubbing utensils. engagements or self-shot videos. Jasprit Bumrah, Shreyas Iyer, K L Rahul
Followers grew rapidly as More organic and transparent and Rishab Pant, are emerging as
conversations became more real content, with an emotional human powerful platforms. We expect their
and the ‘Reels and Lives’ of course, connect will open avenues to create presence and performance in the
amplified fan engagement further. new IPs as well. endorsement market to grow
exponentially, catapulted by their
Having experienced success with consistent on-field exploits.
digital campaigns during the
pandemic, brands will now opt for
increased digital engagement with
athletes. This will not only deliver better
business for the brands, but also
Disruptive fee structures: The industry
increase the commercial value of the
can look forward to a more
athletes’ digital platforms significantly.
disruptive and dynamic fee structure Expansion of regional horizon and
amongst athletes owing to outreach: Social media helps brands
digitization and different weightage appeal to a wider target audience
to offline and online deliverables. through relevant celebrities. Brands
Athletes will restructure their fee will hence, look at bucketing their
brackets between offline and online campaigns and celebrities
Empowering smaller brands and new with the latter being much more in according to their targeted
entrants: The emergence of new demand going forward. demographics in an easier and more
athletes and increased digital economical way.
engagement with multiple
influencers also enables brands with The pandemic created havoc across the world and the sports
lower budgets than established
industry was amongst the hardest hit with live events, the core
powerhouses to enter the market. This
will contribute to the expansion and of the industry’s existence, coming to a sudden halt. Yet, in this
evolution of the entire ecosystem. adversity, there were silver linings, none more important than
The trend is already visible in Gaming, the shifts in the endorsement market. As the world returns to a
E-Learning, Fantasy Gaming,
near normal, the sports industry will emerge stronger, live events,
Education, Finance and Medical
devices and will grow to several more now supplemented by a more robust and fast expanding
industries going forward. endorsement market.
It was a year that saw unprecedented levels of cancellation of events in the
sports industry. As we witnessed a disruption like never before, the resumption
of the games saw the gates of the stadia being closed to the fans. With a
greater emphasis on engaging the remote fans, broadcasters had a big role
to play. While media spends saw significant drop in the absence of many
marquee events, the IPL and the Star Network put together a great
partnership as they made up for a lot of lost ground. With many
non-cricketing competitions getting called off, we saw a surge
in the share of India’s most popular sport in overall media
spends for the year.

A large number of non-sporting months – like the Olympic Games,

brands advertise on sports media to World T2O Cup, Asia Cup Cricket,
connect with their prospective Euro Soccer, and many others. India
customers. Media expenses, therefore was gearing up for another season of
account for a big share of the overall premier sporting leagues that have
Sports Industry. In 2020, it accounted become very much a part of our lives
for INR 3657 Cr ($ 494 Mn) which was now. With all sporting action coming
62% of the overall spends in the to a halt as we went into a lockdown,
industry. As the year began, the there were cancellations en bloc.
expected numbers were higher than Hosting a sports event and opening
this, and in the middle of the year, the gates for fans posed several
these numbers seemed challenges in the wake of the
impossible too! In fact, situation with the pandemic. As
2020 was a year that social distancing was the order of the
didn’t respect plans day, it seemed for a while that it was
and projections. By highly improbable that we will see
March, the spread of any form of competitive sports soon.
the Covid-19 virus had With no action on the field, the net
brought the world to a veritable result was a huge dip of 30% in media
standstill. Many top notch sports spends by the time the year ended.
events were slated for the upcoming
The fact that at least some of the sporting activity after the outbreak of part of the other 3% came from the
competitions were resumed soon is a Covid-19 though it was shifted to an ISL, India’s leading football league.
tribute to the efforts put in by industry offshore location for safety reasons. The competition, which started in
professionals to bring back the While the event had a big role to November, was the first sports league
games. In the Indian Sports Industry, play in the media revival for the year, to be played on Indian soil post the
the IPL is the most keenly awaited the Indian men’s cricket team also onslaught of the pandemic. The
extravaganza, and it was important played its part, making it a situation that prevailed in 2020 was
to get it moving. And by September, well-rounded effort from the sport. such that the success of these two
it was back, with additional safely Team India had only 25 international leagues could not be replicated in
protocols for players and no fans in matches in 2020, significantly lower other such competitions, and as a
the ground, with the games to be than the 54 it had in 2019; something result, we saw the cancellation of
played in UAE only. It was very that did not help in YoY comparisons. eight leagues - Pro Kabaddi, Indo
important to give the fans viewing Overall, cricket contributed to media International Premier Kabaddi
the games on media, an experience spends, an amount of INR 3547 Cr ($ League, Premier Badminton League,
that indicates a carnival 479 Mn), which works out to a huge Pro Volleyball League, Pro Wrestling
atmosphere in the grounds, and a 97% of the total. What this implies is League, Ultimate Table Tennis, Big
sense that normal services have that, around 60% of the Sports Bout Indian Boxing League and X1
resumed. With innovations like virtual Industry size came from media Racing League. There was
fan walls, Augmented Realty, expenses by brands on cricket considerable loss of media
pre-recorded fan cheer scores, LED related coverage. opportunity in some of them, like the
screens, teleportation technology premier leagues in Kabaddi and
for presenters, and other such The postponement of the Olympic Badminton. Similarly, the fact that
innovations, there was considerable Games was a major setback for tournaments like the Indian Open
upgrade in the viewer experience on sports media. Tokyo 2020 looked like Badminton, as well as the Men’s and
media. The IPL was a sell-out success an event that would have seen Women’s Indian Open Golf, could
in terms of media investments too, as brand spends reach heights on not be held, also did not help the
the event saw many brands, old and media, the absence of which further cause. Adding to the woes was the
new, running impactful campaigns accentuated the dependence on cancellation of cricket leagues like
and connecting with their consumers. cricket. With one sport delivering the Tamil Nadu Premier League and
The IPL represented India’s first major 97% of overall media spends, a good the Karnataka Premier League.
In 2019, TV accounted for Digital spends, which had seen rapid are going to have an IPL on regular
growth in 2019, showed 2020 numbers schedule on Indian pitches, the
almost 82% of total media
that looked closer to the 2018 figures it World T20, the World Test
expenses, with digital media had; while TV spends looked closer to Championship and many other
contributing to around 17%. the 2017 scale. Print media saw a events to win. The leagues and
With the spate of huge decline, in fact, it was virtually tournaments that were cancelled
non-existent. This is a drop that looks last year, are expected to make a
cancellations and the
significantly sharper than the fall it had triumphant return. The experiences of
increasing dependence on in recent years and could, to a 2020 have made us wiser, we have
cricket, there was a decline in considerable extent, be attributed to accelerated many tech-enabled
spends and in 2020, TV the extraordinary situations that innovations to gratify the fans, and
prevailed in 2020. the stakeholders of the sporting
accounted for around 87% of
ecosystem are committed to
the total, which indicates an If we look at 2021 with a fresh guard working even better together. Also,
increase in contribution in the at the wicket, we can see far better events like IPL, ISL and the Indian
smaller pie. playing conditions than what we saw Cricket Team’s matches have shown
a few months ago. It is going to be us how to work in post-Covid
an action packed year; the sports circumstances. With all these
world is going to have the Tokyo elements falling in place, fans are in
Olympics, the Euro Soccer for a treat on media; and this is a
Tournament, World Indoor Athletics great sign for businesses that are
and a host of events we missed in looking at sports properties to build
2020. For the Indian cricket fan, we their brands.
 TV PRINT DIGITAL

3,177 429
2019 (INR Cr) 2019 (USD Mn)
1
2019 (INR Cr)
0
2019 (USD Mn)
479
2019 (INR Cr)
65
2019 (USD Mn)

TOTAL 3,657 494

2019 (INR Cr) 2019 (USD Mn)

CRICKET EMERGING
SPORTS

3,547 479
2020 (INR Cr) 2020 (USD Mn)
110
2020 (INR Cr)
15
2020 (USD Mn)

TOTAL 3,657 494

2019 (INR Cr) 2019 (USD Mn)

• Source – GroupM ESP

• 2020 Conversion Rate 1$ = Rs 74

• Media Spends on Sports saw a dip of 30% due • Print spends on Sports has declined drastically
to cancellation of International & National
• Cricket share in Sports AdEx is 97% - IPL is the
marquee events
major contributor
The past decade has seen the foundations being laid for a bright future in the sporting
nation. The introduction of the IPL marked the arrival of a unique platform for athletes,
fans, broadcasters and business entities who saw various opportunities to integrate
themselves with the value chain of this T20 spectacle. This winning momentum
eventually inspired the launch of similar franchise-based events in other sports which
enjoyed differing levels of success. With corporate India recognizing the value that
sports can deliver, we saw a steady growth trajectory year after year on the back of
increasing popularity of the games, driven by corresponding scale-up in the sponsorship
and advertising outlays. As sports met entertainment, there was a treat in store for fans,
which made for more win-win deals that propelled the business of sports in India.

2008 marked an inflection point for began, we had produced some of

the business of sports in India. We saw the biggest names in cricket, and the
Authored by: the unveiling of an event, which in sport had grown into an emotion that
many ways changed the course for had the ability to bind us all together.
the industry- the Indian Premier The format of commercialized
League (IPL). In our sporting history, sporting leagues had gained
there were many moments that put momentum in more developed
India on top of the the world, like sports markets like the USA and
eight Olympic Gold Medals in Europe in the previous century itself,
Hockey, wins at All-England and and the IPL marked its arrival in India.
World Badminton, World Title in As 2010 came to an end, the league
Chess, the exploits of our icons who was three years old and had already
Mr. Gaurav Vazirani won individual medals at the given indication of the times to
Sr. Business Director, Olympics, and several others. Among come; and as a country we had
GroupM ESP them, the 1983 World Cup win in given ample demonstration of our
cricket was special, as it triggered a ability to give the world a prominent
major popularity wave for the sport in multi-sport competition when Delhi
our country. While we went on to win hosted the Commonwealth Games
more ICC tournaments over the earlier that year.
years, by the time the last decade
Even though 2020 had witnessed year for Indian sports on the field and emergence of new non-cricketing
hitherto unseen levels of disruption in on the business side too, and with leagues which connected well with
the sector in India and abroad, the 2021 all set to cover up for the the Indian fans. With the top three
Indian sports industry returned figures temporary setbacks we had last year, leagues already in place, it would be
of INR 5834 Cr ($ 796 Mn); a number the journey till 2019 will be the best interesting to evaluate the growth
that takes into account the following expression of the grounds we covered performance from that year onwards.
activities, mentioned here with their in recent years, in quantitative terms. In the five years from 2014 to 2019, the
contributions to the total– Ground 2019 saw the industry grow at the rate Indian Sports Industry grew at a CAGR
Sponsorship (14%), Team Sponsorship of 17% and reach INR 9109 Cr ($ 1301 of 14.6%, with impactful contributions
(11%), Franchise Fee (3%), Athlete Mn) with a high share of the across the board. The CAGR numbers
Endorsement (10%), and Media incremental value being contributed for the different areas speak for
Spends (62%). Considering the by Media and Ground Sponsorships themselves, with Ground (20.3%),
headwind faced by the industry in which grew at 18% and 25% Media (15.7%), Team (13.5%) and
the last year due to the pandemic, respectively. The uptrend has been Endorsement (10.3%)
these are numbers that bear steady and has come with support performing consistently
testimony to from solid groundwork that had been over the five years.
the way the done year after year, with consistent
ecosystem fought deliveries and investments from
the difficult different stakeholders. 2014 was
circumstances. 2020 another significant year in the making
came after a great of the sporting nation, as we saw the
As the decade unfolded, with the seeds of a sporting nation that is of INR 1079 ($ 163 Mn). The
growing relevance of broadcasting not just about cricket. Riding the incremental revenue through this shift
and the ever increasing clout of wave of the rising popularity of worked out to an amount of INR 580 Cr
media, sports became even more badminton in India, thanks to the ($ 83 Mn). 2019 also saw FinTech major
appealing as a platform for brands to exploits of our stars on the world Paytm renewing their Title Sponsorship
connect with their consumers. stage, was the Premier Badminton rights of Indian cricket from 2019 to
Leading the surge, through its League (PBL) which saw its inaugural 2023 for INR 327 Cr ($ 46.7 Mn), which
immense popularity, was cricket. season in 2016. The event gave an was at a 58% increase from the
Twenty eight years after we first won opportunity for fans to see the best previous deal. While cricket did the
the ODI World Cup at Lord’s, history Indian players competing against heavy scoring, there was ample
repeated itself, this time at some of the leading stalwarts in the support at the other end too. In 2017,
Wankhede. India won the 2011 ODI game. All the while, cricket Vivo secured the PKL Title Sponsorship
World Cup by defeating Sri Lanka in continued to score heavily in the rights for 5 years, at an amount of INR
the final. While the event was a great sporting box office. Even though we 262 Cr ($ 39.7 Mn); this deal came at a
sponsorship and media success, the saw some of the legends of the game 100% incremental value. The year also
home team’s tournament victory led like Sachin Tendulkar announcing saw the two-wheeler major Hero Moto
to an era of bullishness around India’s their retirement, we had modern-day Corp renewing their ISL Title
leading sport. The IPL, the greats like MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli Sponsorship till 2019 at 196% rise in
money-spinner of Indian sports, saw carrying the legacy forward. value, from their previous agreement.
the addition of two new franchises in In another move in 2017, Vodafone
2011. Adding to the flavor of the In the years that followed, a few secured the Title Rights for the PBL for a
cricket masala were Kochi Tuskers (KT) sponsorship and media deals were period of three years with a payout of
and Pune Warriors India (PWI). The made around cricket that over INR 20 Cr ($ 3 Mn). Running across
new teams added to the value of the aggrandized the sporting industry in to marathon, when Tata Sons secured
property even as the initial eight saw the country. These tie-ups hint to the the Title Sponsorship for the flagship
strong organic growth in the same fact that these growths are based on running event in Mumbai, it had come
time period. While KT was suspended solid fundamentals and that the at a rise of 50% from the previous
after 2011, the Pune franchise was bedrock of this positivity lies in the sponsor. While all non-cricketing
part of the league till 2013. In the ever-increasing levels of fan leagues have not enjoyed similar
meantime, India was attracting more involvement in the sport. In 2018 Vivo levels of success, the rising value of
world- class events. The Formula One secured the IPL Title Sponsorship for properties like these clearly hint at the
tour had a pit stop in our country, with five years at an astronomical figure of opportunities that lie ahead for India
the Buddh International Circuit in INR 2199 Cr ($ 323 Mn). This deal came as a multi-sport nation.
Greater Noida becoming the venue at an incredible 450% increment over
for the Indian Grand Prix, from 2011 to the previous one. In the same year, The changes happening in the
2013. The following year saw a couple when the media rights were up for business environment in India will also
of fresh beginnings that revealed the grabs after ten years of this cricketing find their reflections in the sponsor list
true latitude of the IPL model in Indian fiesta, Star India bagged it for of major sports properties. If we
sports. Even as the T20 league inspired 2018-2022 at a jaw-dropping amount glance through it, year after year, we
the launch of similar competitions like of INR 16347 Cr ($ 2.4 Bn). In see many sponsor slots changing
the Big Bash League (BBL) and comparison with the previous deal, hands from traditional brands to
Caribbean Premier League (CPL) in this came at an increase of 367%. The new-age ones. Recent years have
other cricketing nations, we found the runs were coming not just from the seen increasing presence of
learning curve from the IPL coming in blade of IPL, in fact it was sharing a technology players, FinTech and
handy for the unveiling of two fast-paced partnership with the Indian EduTech are two such spaces. BCCI’s
successful leagues in other sports in Cricket Team. In the same year, Star high-stake deals with Paytm and
India. Even though India had a history India bagged the Worldwide TV & Byju’s are clear examples that
of footballing clubs, the launch of the Digital Rights for Indian Cricket for five illustrate this fact. More recently, in
franchise-based Indian Super League years, for an amount of INR 6692 Cr ($ Covid-ravaged 2020, we have seen
(ISL) in 2014 brought in a flavor that 984 Mn), which, on a per year basis, the impact made by Unacademy
was not seen before in the sport in came at an increment of 50% over the and Cred at the IPL. Today’s sports
India. In the same year, we saw the previous deal they had secured in fans are not passive observers, they
launch of the Pro Kabaddi (PKL), 2012. In another significant move, want to express themselves, and
which gave a fresh shot of energy to India’s leading education and even love it if they get the selector’s
a game that originated in India. Both learning brand Byju’s replaced Oppo hat, albeit in a fantasy platform. Of
these leagues attracted high profile as Team India’s Title Sponsor in 2019. late, Fantasy Sports Platforms have
franchisees and sponsors, and grew in The smartphone player had previously been making a dream run in cricket
relevance in their own ways, sowing inked a 2017-2022 deal for an amount and other sports too. Of all the players
in that space, Dream11 has been year’s 85% to 92%, in 2020. Even as has consistently been above 80% for
garnering maximum share of voice. more than half the endorsement some time now. With technology
While they were part of many sports amounts are earned by just two playing a big role, especially with OTT
events in India and outside, the Indian sportsmen, the current Indian cricket gaining ground, digital medium has
Unicorn reaped rich rewards by captain and his predecessor, it is been growing very fast, if you
wining the Title Sponsor Rights at heartening to note that the highest consider 2020 as an outlier, given the
cricket’s most valuable property, the earning non-cricketing athletes are uncertainties caused by the
IPL. Competing with Dream11 are female, with PV Sindhu leading the list pandemic. Print medium in sports has
apps like My11Circle and Mobile in recent years. In a decade that saw lost out to TV and digital in the past
Premier League (MPL), the latter the growing role of media in the few years. While print spends clocked
becoming the Official Kit Sponsor of commercialization of sports, there more than thrice the value as digital
the Indian Cricket Team, in a were huge improvements in medium in 2016, the tables were
significant move. In terms of athlete broadcast quality and viewer turned completely in just three years;
endorsement, cricketers continue to experience. Advertisement Expenses 2019 advertising revenue on digital
attract brands and high value deals, continued to be the biggest medium was more than ten times that
taking a lion’s share of the pie. In fact, contributor to the sports industry with on print; a significant shift indeed.
the share of cricket in sports celebrity TV being the dominant medium. In
endorsement rose from previous fact, its share of total media spends
The past decade has seen Even as we are upbeat about this, it
the sports ecosystem coming must be taken on board that not all
leagues have a rosy picture to show
into its own. Today, in a year, currently; among the Indian leagues
we have over 1000 hours of that got discontinued are Hockey
live sporting action, 550 Mn India League, Super Boxing League,
Super Fight League, International
reach of sports on media,
Premier Tennis League, Cue Slam and
and 60 city-based sports P1 Powerboat. For a sporting league
teams in India. The Sporting to succeed, there are many
Nation has 450+ Team ingredients that are part of the
formula. We need the athletes, rights
Sponsorships in addition to
holders, media houses, franchisees
55+ Central Sponsorships. We and sponsors to come together in a
have evolved to a stage win-win ecosystem to give the fans
where we have eight premier their due, because, for all these
business interests to be served well,
leagues in the country, in
spectator gratification is of
different sports in different paramount importance. The success
stages of maturity- Indian stories of the bigger events should
Premier League, Indian Super benefit the rest. For instance, in
Covid-affected 2020, the incredible
League, Pro Kabaddi, Premier
success of the IPL and the fact that
Badminton League, Ultimate the ISL was the first major sports event
Table Tennis, Pro Wrestling to be held in India after the
League, Pro Volleyball pandemic outbreak, should serve as
the ideal shot in the arm for us as India
League and Big Bout Indian
looks at 2021 and beyond to scale
Boxing League. even greater heights.
 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Year
` Cr. ` Cr. ` Cr. ` Cr. ` Cr. ` Cr. ` Cr. ` Cr. ` Cr. ` Cr.

Overall 5314 4405 4381 4617 5363 6400 7300 7762 9109 5894
% Growth 32% -17% -1% 9% 16% 19% 14% 6% 17% -34%

On Ground 705 712 759 795 1030 1166 1337 1603 2006 850
% Growth -30% 1% 6% 5% 30% 13% 15% 20% 25% -53%

Team Sponsorship 724 669 465 494 558 700 820 892 934 646
% Growth 60% -8% -30% 6% 13% 25% 17% 9% 5% -30%

Franchise Fee 618 481 527 482 541 548 684 353 400 177
% Growth 117% -22% 10% -8% 12% 1% 25% -48% 13% -55%

Endorsement 267 293 382 328 416 476 395 482 537 564
% Growth 5% 10% 30% -14% 27% 14% -17% 22% 11% 13%

Media Spends 3000 2250 2250 2518 2817 3511 4065 4432 5232 3657
% Growth 50% -25% 0% 12% 12% 25% 16% 9% 18% -30%

Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
$ Mn $ Mn $ Mn $ Mn $ Mn $ Mn $ Mn $ Mn $ Mn $ Mn

`-$
Conversion Rate 47 53 59 61 65 68 66 68 70 74

Overall 1131 831 743 757 825 941 1106 1141 1301 796

On Ground 150 134 128 130 159 171 203 236 287 115

Team Sponsorship 154 126 79 81 86 103 124 131 133 87

Franchise Fee 131 91 89 79 83 81 104 52 57 24

Endorsement 57 55 65 54 64 70 60 71 77 76

Media Spends 638 425 381 413 433 516 616 652 747 494

Source – GroupM ESP

-Through the lens of Mr. Mustafa Ghouse, CEO JSW Sports

Silent cheering, no access to bars and restaurants outside the Games Village and testing at
least every four days: just some of the many provisions mentioned in the “Playbook” released
by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for athletes as everyone races against time
to ensure the ill-fated Tokyo Olympics actually goes ahead. Irrespective of what shape the
Games eventually take, they will be far different than the extravagant celebration we have
been accustomed to over the past many editions.
The world has changed drastically preparing for their moment to shine, 10,500+ athletes representing up to
since the September evening in 2013 find themselves unable to do the 206 National Olympic Committees
when Tokyo won its bid to host the one thing they love: play sport! and over a million visitors, all
Olympics for the second time after Broadcasters and advertisers, expected to converge in central
1964. If 1964 was about showcasing hamstrung by the pandemic’s Tokyo for what was to be 17 days of
the economy’s post-war impact on business, unable to plan the greatest sporting celebration in
emergence, 2020 was set to be a their sporting calendars, and the recent memory.
spectacle unlike anything seen so domestic and international fans,
far: the most gender-neutral Olympic unsure of whether they will be able The challenges around organising an
Games, with innovative new formats to support their favourite athletes. event like the Olympics, balancing
and urban sports which promised a the interests of the many stakeholder
glimpse into the future of the Domestically, most Indian athletes groups from the athletes themselves
Olympic movement. All of this have been stuck in camps with to the broadcasters spending billions
complemented with an inclusive limited access to competition and on rights, are far too detailed to go
public transport system in the urban training exposure. Sponsors and into. However, if there is one thing
megapolis of Tokyo, complete with brands, who typically see the that truly embodies the Olympics
talking robots, drones and driverless Olympics as the one occasion to and Olympic athletes, it is the
cars to boot! capitalise on the media attention triumph of spirit and the pursuit of
and market Olympic athletes are excellence. It is this pursuit that, I am
Instead, we are stuck glaring at the taking a cautious approach and hopeful, will see Tokyo host a
uncertainty around whether the deal pipelines are tentative. successful and important edition of
Olympics will even go ahead, less the Olympic Games, one that
than 5 months before its rescheduled To understand the scale of the reminds us to be grateful, celebrate
start date. The cost of hosting the obstacles facing both the IOC and the present and in the words of the
Olympics is estimated to have the Tokyo organisers to reschedule IOC President Thomas Bach, ignite
increased by over a fifth to $15.4 the Olympics, originally slated to the Olympic flame, which shall be
billion due to the postponement. begin on July 24, 2020, one only the “Light” at the end of this tunnel.
Athletes, who spend their entire lives needs to look at the numbers:
The sports sector in India has come a long way since the IPL took the cricket
world by storm in 2008. With the national cricket team and the pre-eminent
sporting league boosting the run rates in terms of sponsorship and media
spends, other sports too entered the arena, adding more dimensions to the
industry. Even as the Covid-19 threat put the brakes on the ecosystem, it has
brought the stakeholders closer to one another as we found ways to work
around the crisis. 2021 has an exciting line-up of sporting events for us, and
we can expect a high scoring year in the business of sports.

The decade from 2011 to 2020 has league in 2018, they paid an amount
seen significant shifts in the that had a 4.5x growth with respect
commercialization of sports in India. to the previous deal. On the media
With more and more live action being front, when Star India bagged the IPL
made available to fans, media plays a rights in the same year, the amount
huge role in making sports an involved was at an increment of
appealing proposition to brands. The 367%. As media rates shot up, it
advent of the IPL had changed the didn’t show any reduction in the
paradigm for the industry, with fans propensity of brands to spend on
getting a new flavor of sporting action, advertising. For Indian Cricket team’s
and business houses having strong fixtures too, there was no looking
conviction in the opportunity it back, as seen in the high-value deals
provides for driving awareness with Paytm, Oppo, Byju’s, and others.
and saliency for their brands. With other IPL-inspired leagues
Some of the deals that gave gaining traction, like the ISL which
strong impetus for the IPL, has the backing of Hero Moto Corp,
and therefore the Indian and the PKL, which had Vivo as the
sports industry, involved Title Sponsor from early days, the
disproportionate second half of the last decade saw a
investments from fast-paced game being played all
brands. For instance, across. As cricketers kept on hitting
when Vivo secured the ball outside the boundary line at
the Title Sponsor the IPL, we saw that the boundaries
Rights for cricket’s that define the scope of sponsorship
most valuable and media investment in cricket,
were continuously getting redefined
by India’s foremost sports league.
The pandemic came at the start of
what could have been an amazing
year for sports, with many keenly
awaited events being lined up. As
social distancing became
embedded in the way of life, it posed
many challenges for all. The impact
was felt across sectors, and those
who were able to resort to remote
working as a practice were able to
integrate that as part of their new
normal. Sports was different, it had a league became the first major sports
milieu that didn’t adhere perfectly competition that was played on
with the norms of social distancing. Indian soil after the virus hit the world.
Athletes will have physical contact The event was organized in a manner
with one another, and the presence that turned out to be a great
of sell-out crowds is part of the example for how India could host a
elements that make sports what it is. major league in light of the Covid
As we went into a lockdown, the long concerns. ISL was restricted to just industry went into a downturn, it
whistle was blown on all sporting three venues, all in Goa, with strict became apparent that the key
action. That was a low phase for India safety protocols in place. The success stakeholders need to come together
and amidst the encircling gloom, of the league was a major landmark for a collective good. We have seen
there was heightened activity on in the Sporting Nation’s response to in the lockdown how our athletes
social media by our favorite athletes, the pandemic, and will serve as a stayed connected with fans using
as they used their online presence to beacon of inspiration for smaller their online reach, and gave us a
engage with their fans. Even as the leagues as they resume action in 2021 glimpse of how they view their sport
virus had gripped the nation, our after the brief hiatus last year. and the world we live in. Similarly,
sporting icons had used virality of a rights holders can also get into
better nature to lift our spirits. The Extreme situations like the strategic tie-ups with broadcasters for
games had to come back; the base disturbance caused by the initiatives that can give the industry a
product in the sports industry is the pandemic can force us to think in thrust in times like the Covid situation
competitive action on the field, with ways we may not have done before. we saw last year. The lockdown has
the rest of the activities revolving In the absence of on-field spectators, also brought to light the need for the
around it. The demographic patterns we saw greater emphasis on industry stakeholders and the
in the country posed severe engaging fans on media, which led Government to work together in
challenges as we tried to ameliorate to the acceleration in several Public-Private partnerships. As
the threat posed by the pandemic. technology-led broadcast unforeseen situations like the
Soon, sporting action was back with a innovations. Also, the pandemic pandemic happen, there is need to
new set of safety protocols in place; seems to have contributed to the be fleet-footed in reacting to them,
players were protected in bio-secure evolution of the e-sports industry. As which calls for the right mix of
bubbles and the doors of the stadia online gaming saw frenzied increase stringency and leniency in matters
were not opened to fans. The IPL, in adoption and stickiness, it led to like travel policies, quarantine rules
which was earlier scheduled for April, collaborations and partnerships that etc. Also, as India evolves into a
eventually got underway in set the pace for the industry. multi-sport nation in the coming
September in the UAE. The event was Covid-19 has taught us many things, decade, there is need for the
a great success from the point of view one of them is about appreciating Government to work together with
of sponsorships and media relationships and long term visions, media houses to support events like
investments. The ISL followed suit, in and realizing that we have come the National Games and other
November the premier football thus far by working together. As the grassroot initiatives.
As India moves into the decade of leading to the launch of new sporting leagues could not be held in
the 20s, we can expect a continuous properties like the Jharkhand Premier 2020 because of challenges that
evolution in the state of affairs in the League. With many sporting events were insuperable then. The sports
sports industry. One such example coming up in 2021, fans might have industry showed great resilience in
will be with the way we look at sports to make choices between certain India and abroad, and sporting
data. Currently, there are no events in terms of what, when and action was back sooner than
protocols between rights holders and how much to watch, leading to rise expected. We have shown that we
platforms, but with the rate at which in demand for subscription viewing in can hold major events in the
we are seeing growth in areas like live sports. post-pandemic world, and with the
fantasy sports, the need to added learning from the
safeguard consumer interest will lead When 2020 began, the fans had a experiences of 2020, we can
us to a point where regulations will be delectable set of sporting events to certainly be optimistic about the way
in place, as per which, there could look forward to. It was supposed to ahead. As we look at 2021, all the
be financial arrangements to be the year of the Tokyo Olympics postponed blue chip events are on
procure official league data from that was eagerly awaited in India. the cards, and the annual events
rights holders. Technology-driven The other marquee events at world that got cancelled last year are
brands are taking key sponsorship level included Euro Soccer and expected to make a return. Hence,
slots in Indian sports these days; these World Indoor Athletics. The Indian 2020 looks like that proverbial
organizations are quick to pivot into cricket team was supposed to travel backward step we take before a
adjacent business spaces, possibly down under for the T20 World Cup, giant leap, like the one we are
switching sponsor categories as a which was a great opportunity to expected to take in 2021, as part of
result of the shift. As the tech space bring home an ICC Trophy that had the making of the sporting nation.
continues to evolve, we could see been eluding us for a few years. Add
newer categories getting blocked, to these, the top annual events like
driving the premium for category the IPL, and there was a feast in store
exclusivity. As new content platforms for us. However, the pandemic put
emerged in the wake of the shortage paid to the plans of the industry. Lot
of live sports in 2020, it will cause a of action was lost; even as IPL and ISL
demand for new sporting content, gave joy to our fans, the other
When the unforeseen strikes, it is sure to set you back. It tests your
resolve and forces you to think outside the box for solutions. The
enormous goal of getting things back on track calls for a unique
combination of crisis management skills and ingenuity.

This, in a nutshell, was a key takeaway systems that were implemented, and
from the way Indian sports fought the the closure of stadium gates to the
pandemic in 2020. As the virus fans. The IPL was a great affirmation
tightened its stranglehold, the from India that a truly world-class
sporting world was startled. We had sports event of this scale could be
lots of competitions lined up, organized by us. The change of dates
Authored by: including the Tokyo Olympics. After and venues along with the safety
the high of 2019, there was a lot in protocols were deemed necessary
store for cricket fans too. Two major and were duly executed. The fans on
T20 events were scheduled for 2020; if media were in for a real treat and the
the first half of the year had the IPL, event was a great advertising
then adding pyrotechnics in the latter platform for brands. Sponsorship and
half was the ICC World T20 Cup. With media inventories were sold out and
the lockdown being enforced and IPL 2020 was a thumping success,
subsequent stoppage of play on the reinforcing its standing as one of the
field, the void was stark with no world’s leading events of its kind
Mr. Prasanth Kumar visibility on how the anti-Covid efforts across sports. Close on the heels of this
will pan out. Even without any top of the line T20 blast was the ISL,
CEO - GroupM South Asia sporting activities, our favourite stars India’s premier football league. This
stayed close to us; in fact, they came event was held on Indian soil, amidst
closer by actively engaging their demanding circumstances, and
followers on social media. Even in showcased India’s ability to host an
such uncertain times, the spontaneity event of this magnitude in a
of this online content flow, and the post-pandemic world. 2020, in
open arms with which we welcomed general, saw many changes being
it, clearly demonstrated the power of implemented, and it often takes
sports in our country. It was a circumstances like the pandemic to
reminder that we need to stay overcome the inertia of continuity
together and work together towards associated with legacy practices.
a common good. Speedy responses and improvisations
on the go were what the situation
As the competitions were resumed, demanded and among the many
the fans got some live-action. Certain things the Covid-19 situation taught us,
changes were inevitable given the was the need to be adaptable as the
circumstances, like the bio-bubble tide turns fast around us.
A quantitative look at the Sports template for organizing a sports
Industry indicates a reduction in the competition in a manner that satisfies
size of the pie, in Sponsorships and the boundary conditions of a
Media spends in 2020. The substantial post-Covid world. The need of the
loss of actual game time across hour is to draw from all the positives of
different sports did not help the cause 2020 and move forward with a far
too. A glance at the Indian Men’s stronger conviction in overcoming
Cricket Team’s calendar will tell the the hurdles that may come up, with
story, with only 25 international games the world has made considerable
in 2020 as against 54 in the previous progress from a Covid response
year. The leading sporting leagues in standpoint. For a sports aficionado,
India, outside of cricket and football, there is a lot on offer in 2021. As for the
were called off as it happened with industry stakeholders, there were lost
important international level opportunities last year, though a
tournaments in sports like golf and close look will reveal that a good
badminton. The impact was felt share of those misses were revenue
across the value chain; while the opportunities that were deferred to
players had the extra pressure the current year. Among these
associated with being in the bubble events, the real big one is Tokyo 2020
for long periods, the organizers had in which India has a few medal
heightened responsibilities to ensure hopes, and for the footballing world,
safety even as they tried to get things the Euro will be a keenly awaited
off the ground, and the media had to spectacle, something which the
offer fresh excitement to viewers in growing number of fans in our
light of the new normal while meeting country will be eagerly waiting for. As
revenue goals. Even as we grapple the icing on the cake, we have the
with the present, there has to be an ICC T20, which will be held in India this
eye on the future. Problems do year. There is a lot of great sporting
happen, how we react to them is action to look forward to, with an
what defines us. impressive array of events that can
serve as great brand-building
While the return of sporting action opportunities, as a comeback year
was essential for all stakeholders, it unfolds in Indian sports.
had to be done in a way that doesn’t
jeopardize the larger agenda of
public safety, and achieving this
balance was a significant win of 2020.
Even though many events could not
be held last year, we now have a
GroupM India is a data-centric, digitally charged marketing services conglomerate. With our
six agencies including Wavemaker, Mindshare, MediaCom, Motivator, Essence, mSix, and
specialty services, GroupM India gives clients the advantage of global operation and
learnings, along with local expertise and market insight. With our investment in data,
technology and diverse talent, GroupM India aims to shape the future and transform
challenges into opportunities for our clients.

Discover more about GroupM at www.groupm.com.

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GroupM ESP is a new type of sports and
entertainment marketing agency, dedicated to
helping rightsholders take advantage of digital
and data driven changes in the media landscape.
It is part of WPP’s GroupM. GroupM ESP is
dedicated to helping properties better understand
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Business Contact

Vinit Karnik
+91 9821 185060
[email protected]

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Narrative By
Vishnu Govind
+91 98332 28209
Founder, Add Valorem Consulting
APRIL 2021