DHONI AHEAD OF KOHLI
NEW DELHI: With captain of the Indian test cricket team Virat Kohli growing more expensive and choosy, limited overs skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has once again taken away the title of the frequently-seen sports star on television.
According to latest data by AdEx India, a division of Television Audience Measurement (TAM) Media Research, Dhoni topped the list of top 10 sports stars with the maximum commercial airtime captured in the first half of 2016, overtaking Kohli. In 2015, Kohli was ahead of Dhoni.
Maximum commercial airtime is calculated on the basis of ad volumes per second.
In another list, which includes the advertisement share of Bollywood and television actors along with sports personalities, Kohli’s share of ad volume on TV has come down from the third rank (last year) to 19th this year. Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor Khan topped the list, followed by Shah Rukh Khan. Dhoni’s position remained unchanged at six.
Kohli’s high-brand endorsement fee could be a reason for advertisers choosing Dhoni , experts said.
“The current fee for signing Virat is ₹3 crore per day, whereas Dhoni charges half, around ₹1.5 crore. This makes Dhoni more attractive and an accessible option for brands,” according to an ad-maker, who has worked with both the players for different commercials.
Experts also said Dhoni’s retirement from the long form of the game has impacted his endorsement fees.
Arun Pandey, Dhoni’s manager and chairperson of Rhiti Sports Management, which manages his brand endorsements and communication, said: “Dhoni’s new brand engagements are doing very well. He has just signed five new brands. He now endorses 20 brands, which is a huge portfolio.”
On the contrary, Kohli is turning down brand endorsement offers.
Bunty Sajdeh, CEO of Cornerstone Sport & Entertainment, which manages Kohli’s brand engagements said: “I have turned down almost 16 brand engagement offers in the last 24 months. Our idea is not to overexpose him.” “Moreover, Mahi (MS Dhoni) today endorses twice the number of brands compared to Virat... It could be because of differences in choices of doing business,” Sajdeh added.
The release of the biopic, ‘MS Dhoni: The Untold Story’, will boost Dhoni’s brand further . The biopic is scheduled for release this year .
“After his biopic releases, his brand endorsements will go on a different level,” Pandey said, counting Dhoni’s recent brand associations with Lava Mobiles and Exide Life Insurance.