Indian Sports Sponsorship grew to 12% in 2018: GroupM’s ESP Properties

ESP properties- the entertainment and sports division of GroupM has released the 2019 report on sports sponsorship in India. Overall sports sponsorship saw a healthy growth of 12% in 2018 as sports advertising grew to ₹ 7,762 crores.

Cricket has gained the ground as IPL hit a maximum. While an overall level of the growth of on-ground sponsorship was 20%, cricket witnessed a momentous upsurge of 34% with IPL Central Sponsorship contributing to revenue of more than ₹600+ Cr ($88+ nn) in 2018, Group M ESP Properties has stated in a Press release.₹

Cricket sponsorship over the year has grown from ₹660 crore in 2017 to ₹899 crore, states the report.

IPL franchise fee, amounting to approximately ₹291 Cr ($43Mn), ceased to be valid in 2018 rendering a year-on-year comparison irrelevant in that area, netting off this difference,

contributing to the 12% growth.

The IPL Team Sponsorship tally had a better year, touching ₹300 Cr ($44 mn) for the first time ever at a growth of a significant 20%. IPL also plays the star act on TV as digital moves up the ladder. A major 85% of all ad expenditures in sports happened on TV in 2018. Digital grew at 44% as it was triggered by Hotstar and Sony Liv and platforms which continued to drive adoption and carved a niche for itself.

Also Read: IPL 2019: Real value of team sponsorship for Season 12

Emerging sports too saw positive growth signals. Indian Super League (ISL) over the years had grown into a strong property with a calendar spread over six months. Kabaddi had a good year in 2018, registering a growth of 31% over the previous year in on-ground sponsorship. This was further backed by Odisha government announcing a five-year deal with Hockey India for junior and senior men and women teams.

Year also saw Tata Motors become the principal sponsor of Indian wrestling in the non-cricket team sponsorship.

Also, big money continues to chase the king of chases as cricket widens the lead over the rest of the sports. 2018 saw a 22% growth in Athlete Brand Endorsement Value. Of the ₹ 482 cr ($71 mn) spent by brands on sports stars acquisitions, 81% was accounted just by India’s most popular sport.

Vinit Karnik, Business Head, ESP Properties says, “2018 was a spectacular year for the business of sports and 2019 will be another power-packed year. There will be a significant rise in sports leagues and tournaments since IPL has inspired other sports leagues such as PKL, ISL, and PBL. From the IPL team sponsorship seeing a growth of 20% or for the first time ever to Kabaddi registering a growth of 31%, factors like these have given sports sponsorship a boost. With IPL now and ICC Cricket World Cup coming up we also expect sports celebrities to be the talk of the town, monopolizing consumer attention and advertising money.”

source: GroupM’s ESP Properties

Kohli, Dhoni capture 66% market

Two cricketers alone, Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni, pulled in 66% of all athlete endorsement monies spent by Indian brands last year. Though Virat Kohli leads from the front touching an endorsement value of approximately ₹200 cr. Pusarla Sindhu had a momentous 2018 both on and off the court.

Also Read: IPL 2019: Three days, four matches and 135 mn audience on Hotstar

La Liga signed a three-year exclusive agreement with Facebook to show all 380 matches to users in India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and

Pakistan. With huge digital groundswell behind viewership trends, digital media should grow disproportionately in the future as a wider viewer base will attract more ad revenue.

Based on the events across various leagues, tournaments, sponsorships, and non-sponsorships, 2019 looks like a good year for Cricket and emerging sports, which will give

rise to bottomless engagement with brands and sporting fans in India.

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