The spending on sports celebrity endorsements grew by 11% year-on-year in 2021: GroupM ESP’s Sporting Nation Report 2022
Mar 25, 2022, 11:49 IST
- GroupM ESP, the entertainment, esports and sports division of GroupM India has released the 9th edition of Sporting Nation in The Making, its sports report that takes into consideration the sponsorship spends, player endorsements and media spends on sports properties.
- The report estimated that the size of the Indian sports industry spends had surpassed Rs 9500 crore in 2021. It also revealed that the spending on sports celebrity endorsement grew by 11% year-on-year in 2021.
Advertisement
GroupM ESP, the entertainment, esports and sports division of GroupM India in its sports sponsorship report for India 2021 said that the size of the Indian sports industry spends was estimated to have surpassed Rs 9500 crore in 2021. The report also stated that the spending on sports celebrity endorsement grew by 11% year-on-year in 2021.2021 saw an echoing comeback for sports sponsorships and media deals, as compared to 2020 when the pandemic took over. 2021 got our Sporting Nation back to a billion-dollar scale with a 62% growth over 2020. India’s performance at the Tokyo Olympics has been a morale booster for budding sports talent in the country and 2022 will bring new opportunities in multi-sport events.
With INR 6018 Cr, Sports Adex surpassed 2019 levels in both TV & digital. Cricket yet again, remains the most popular sport, accounting for 94% of the sports AdEx. The media spends on cricket in 2021 was higher (Rs 5657 crore) than the overall media spends of 2019 (Rs 5232 crore). A total of 444 brand endorsement deals have happened in 2021, with cricketers accounting for 318 endorsement deals and 87% of total brand endorsement value. The Olympic Year of 2021 increased Emerging Sports Athletes' endorsements by 79%, accounting for 13% of the overall brand endorsement value.
Prasanth Kumar, CEO – GroupM South Asia said, “2021 was a year of a major comeback for the sports industry. Not only in sports but we saw growth in sponsorships, endorsements, and media expenses in 2021. This year will also be a good re-start point for brands to invest in sports properties since sports will see a rise and will in-turn deliver ROI to brands. Apart from this, we even saw esports gaining significant traction and there was a major rise in the number of gamers in the country. Properties like PKL, ISL, etc. are also seeing a major rise in followers which goes to show that India is heavily invested in overall sports from an interest and inquisitiveness standpoint. As for cricket, we are seeing a growing interest by Foreign private equity giants investing in Indian cricket which is proving that Cricket will continue seeing a huge surge in India and with 2021 getting cricket back on track, we are seeing 2022 racing ahead, aiming to cross INR 10,000 Cr mark.”
Acceptance of visual media for live sports broadcast by fans led to a great demand of platforms like SonyLiv and Disney Hotstar who are now streaming a variety of sports for their audiences. We see the OTT space becoming more competitive in the years to come since India is adopting OTT for live streaming sporting action.
Advertisement
With an action-packed 2021, media spends in sports saw some heavy scoring in India as brands and consumers were brought closer by broadcasters. Technology also played a very crucial role in evolving the way people appreciate sports. The household penetration of TV sets in different markets over the country saw a major role in the growth of sports properties. With this, TV continues to be the largest medium since 2021 saw overall ad spends of Rs 5051 crore, which was a growth of 59% over 2020 and we saw digital spends touching Rs 965 crore.