Anirban Roy Choudhury
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After Srikanth, Li Ning ropes in PV Sindhu for a record price

A senior official involved in the deal says Sindhu will be paid close to what Puma pays cricketer Virat Kohli per year.

Remember the days when stars from Bollywood and cricket were only making headlines for their massive brand endorsement deals? In India, barring the tennis duo popularly known as Indian Express, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, the ad dollars were always pocketed by the ones who ruled the 22-yards-long cricket pitch. Famoud Bob Dylan song “Times they are a changin...” has become a reality in the advertising and marketing space in India, in this context.

Last month International sportswear and badminton equipment brand headquartered in Beijing announced Indian badminton player Kidambi Srikanth as its brand ambassador. As per estimates, Srikanth can get up to Rs.35 crore over a period of four years as a part of the deal. Yesterday, Li Ning got the world number three PV Sindhu’s signature too.

That's right. The 2016 Olympic Gold medalist will now endorse Li Ning for a period of four to five years. “This is one of the biggest deals signed in India and certainly sets a new record,” says a senior official involved in the deal.

After Srikanth, Li Ning ropes in PV Sindhu for a record price
Li Ning introduces PV Sindhu as ambassador

“This deal is very much close Virat Kohli’s deal with Puma. Not only that, this makes Sindhu the biggest endorser among all women badminton players in the world,” says a senior Li Ning executive. Often recognised as the 'biggest deal' involving an athlete in India, the Virat-Puma association is estimated to be a Rs.100 crore endorsement deal for a period of eight years, making it Rs.12.5 crore a year deal, overall. The German multinational sportswear and accessories brand signed Kohli as brand ambassador in 2017.

This is Li Ning’s second stint with both Srikanth and Sindhu. In 2014 Li Ning poached both Sindhu and Srikanth from Yonex for a sum of Rs.1.25 crore a year, each. In 2016, Yonex managed to woo Sindhu back for a Rs 3.5 crore a year deal for a period of three years. In the 2016 Olympics, while the entire Indian contingent had the Li Ning logo on their kit, Sindhu avoided the sportswear brand on the court. However, her sweatshirt did carry Li Ning's logo when she went up the podium and kissed her Silver medal.

In terms of per day endorsement fee, as per estimates, a day of ace shuttler Sindhu's time costs a brand Rs 1.75 crore; the only Indian athlete ahead of her is Virat Kohli who charges Rs 2.50 crore per day. MS Dhoni’s per day charges are estimated to be around Rs 1.25 crore, while his endorsement deals range between Rs. 5 crore to 8 crore a year. Sachin Tendulkar still remains an expensive ambassador with a price tag of Rs. 1 crore per day. Before the emergence of brand Sindhu, former world number one (women doubles) tennis player Sania Mirza was the highest paid female athlete endorser in India. At her peak, she charged Rs. 75 lakh a day which Sindhu has already doubled.

Li Ning wants to establish itself as a sportswear brand and compete with the likes of Nike and Adidas in India. At present Li Ning rakes in an annual revenue of around Rs. 70 crore from India, 90 per cent of which comes from the sales of badminton equipment.

The Rs. 40,000 crore sportswear market has room for more players believes Amit Gugnani, senior vice president, Fashion - Textiles, Apparel and Engineering at Technopak, “The sportswear market has seen tremendous re-invigoration as far as consumer adoption goes, not just on the basic parameters which impact overall retail but also when looked at from a sportswear category perspective, which itself is getting reinvigorated in India - there has been a massive increase in people looking for sportswear, including footwear, apparel, and related accessories."

He concludes, "Traditionally, India has had the Nikes, Pumas, Adidases, etc. I think there is definite scope for a new entrant to come in because the total number of brands is still very small.”

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