Brands are warming up to non-cricket sports, but there's a catch!

The end of August 2023 saw the national pride of India surge substantially. This phenomenon was triggered by multiple significant events, including Chandrayan's successful moon landing and the meteoric rise of young chess prodigy R Praggnanandhaa. To top it all off, Olympic Gold medalist, Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, reasserting his dominance in global track and field by securing a gold medal at the World Athletics Championships (WAC).

The 25-year-old, dubbed "golden arm" by Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, struck gold at the 2023 World Athletics Championships (WAC) with a throw of 88.17m on August 27. The win came two days prior to the annual Indian National Sports Day.

On the occasion, India’s PM Narendra Modi tweeted, “On National Sports Day, my greetings to all sportspersons. India is proud of their contributions to the nation. I pay homage to Major Dhyan Chand Ji as well on his birth anniversary.”

Chopra's victory solidifying him to the forefront of the WAC men's javelin throw rankings. Brands also took cognisance of his accomplishment and congratulated him.

Chopra's gold only adds momentum to the roll that Indian athletes have been at the global stage. In June 2023, India's men’s badminton team, helmed by Srikanth Kidambi, Lakshya Sen, and Prannoy H. S., lifted the Thomas Cup (World Men's Team Championships) for the first time. In March, light flyweight boxer Nikhat Zareen secured her second world championship gold medal at the IBA Women's World Boxing Championships.

Due to this, non-cricket athletes have seen a notable increase in brand interest. GroupM’s ESP Sporting Nation Report 2023, which came out in April, observed that the Indian sports industry witnessed a significant growth curve in 2022, with spends crossing over Rs14,000 crore. 

Cricket dominates the Indian sports sponsorship landscape, contributing to 85% of the sponsorship spends in the last calendar year.

The other sports combined make up 15% of the total expenditure. The report’s 2022 edition observed a total of Rs 6,018, crore sports ad expenditure. Non-cricket sports only made up 13% of this.

“Interest in non-cricket athletes has been consistently rising since quite some time now. Ever since Saina Nehwal won that medal at the London Olympics, interest in Badminton increased drastically. Post that win, we have seen a lot of non-cricket athletes do well in other sports as well and are seeing good traction. They are nowhere near cricketers but the gap is definitely decreasing,” explains Jigar Rambhia, COO, Sporjo.

‘Brands need to celebrate competitiveness rather than wins’

However, brand interest for athletes generally peaks for Indian athletes when they make a mark for themselves on the global stage.

In the case of Neeraj Chopra, he first saw a significant burst in brand endorsement deals when he secured the Olympic gold back in 2020. Brands that got on board Chopra’s post-Olympic fame included: CRED, TATA AIA Life Insurance, MuscleBlaze, Gillette, Country Delhi, and Mahindra, among others. 

In the following years, Chopra’s appearances in brand ads witnessed a small drop. Chopra has only endorsed brands like Limca Sportz, Switzerland Tourism, and YouTube, post 2021. Rambhia observes that this is the case for athletes across disciplines. He opines that this could be attributed to a lack of media coverage.

“These athletes, who are winning medals at prominent sporting events, are also winning medals at other events. Unfortunately, these events are not getting the same media coverage as big events and are, therefore, not spoken about much,” he adds.

Another reason behind a gradual waning interest in athletes in their off-season is the general sports culture of India.

Elaborating on this, Suhail Chandhok, CEO, U Mumba, says, “I think we, as Indian sports fans, have a very short-lived memory. It's possibly because India hasn't quite developed a sports culture yet. We celebrate athletes when they get the limelight they deserve after a momentous achievement."

"But, we forget about them very quickly when the next big thing arrives. For example, two months after we lifted the Thomas Cup, Neeraj won big at WAC. So now, we have forgotten about the Indian men’s badminton team.”

Brand interest in athletes, thus, corresponds to people’s retention of their achievements. In line with this, Ramakrishnan R, co-founder and director, Baseline Ventures, anticipates that brand interest in Chopra to see another significant upsurge.   

He shares that Baseline started representing badminton player Prannoy H. S. in August. He asserts that him winning the World Championships was a big deal.

Ideally, Ramakrishnan would want brands to support the champion in his journey to achieving success. But, he observes brand presence was less throughout his most recent success.

"We need brands to sponsor or support non-cricket athletes during their journeys to success. The support for them throughout their journey, which a credible sports partnership entails, is lacking. In India, we are not celebrating competitiveness."

"We only celebrate wins. The moment you are competing at a competition like the WAC, you are up against the elite athletes, which in itself is a big accomplishment. This is not a right, mature way of looking at sports marketing," he adds.

Chandhok concurs, saying that brands need to be present for athletes when they are building their brands, away from their major showcases. "When I have shown my potential to the world as an athlete, that's when I need support from brands."

Speaking on the brand perspective, he adds that brands typically want to align with success stories. Thus, for a sports entity, the challenge lies in creating a story line that goes beyond a tournament or a match. The work lies in creating an identity for the team in which brands can believe in their overall vision, he asserts.

Discussing the process of cultivating longer partnerships, Punit Balan, chairman and managing director, Punit Balan Group (owner of Pune Jaguars of the Tennis Premier League, Mumbai Khiladis of the Ultimate Kho-kho, and Mumbai Muscle of the Pro Panja league), believes maintaining brand interest over time requires a comprehensive apprach.

This involves not just the athletes themselves, but also the broader ecosystem that supports them. This comprehensive approach ensures a consistent and well-rounded brand image, allowing athletes to keep the interest of brands even outside of specific sports seasons.

“It is important that social engagements bring out the nuances of the athletes’ character. As much as it's important to build a strong social presence, staying true to their character is equally important as they showcase their personality, strengths, weaknesses, interests, and values in a dynamic manner that attracts brands looking for authenticity and credibility and can easily connect with the consumers. Furthermore, athletes can also leverage their time associating with initiatives that matter, and that bring people closer to their fans and followers.”