Ananya Panday tops celebrity ads during IPL 2025, MS Dhoni leads among athletes: TAM Sports

TAM Sports has released its latest report on celebrity endorsements during the first 37 matches of IPL 2025 (IPL 18). According to the findings, Ananya Panday was the most visible celebrity endorser, contributing 9% of total ad volumes, while MS Dhoni emerged as the top sports celebrity with a 15.1% share among athlete-led ads.

The share of celebrity-endorsed ads remained steady at 61%—matching last year’s figure. However, the overall volume of celebrity-endorsed ads grew by 2% over IPL 2024, showing a continued reliance on star power in advertising.

Film actors dominated with a 41% share of celebrity-endorsed ad volumes, followed by sports personalities at 35% and film actresses at 24%.

Despite the volume growth, the number of unique endorsers declined. Over 45 celebrities were featured this season compared to 65 last year. Sports celebrity count also dropped to 15 from over 25 in IPL 2024.

Shah Rukh Khan, who topped visibility during IPL 2024, was the only name to appear in the top five endorsers across both seasons. Other major names in 2025 included Laksh Lalwani (8%), Salman Khan (5%), and newcomers like Mohammed Siraj and Yashasvi Jaiswal.

In the top sports endorsers list, Dhoni led with 15.1%, followed by Siraj, Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, and Ruturaj Gaikwad—each securing between 8–10% share of ad volumes.

Food and beverage brands dominated celebrity partnerships again. Two of the top five endorsed categories were from this sector—biscuits and pan masala. Overall, five categories, including e-commerce gaming, paints, and face wash, accounted for over 70% of celebrity-led ad volumes.

Top advertisers using celebrities included Sporta Technologies (Dream11), Playgames24x7, Parle Biscuits, Vishnu Packaging, and K P Pan Foods.

The report only considered live match broadcasts and excluded pre/mid/post-program segments, promos, and broadcaster ads across Star Network’s 25 channels.