Nation’s sports sponsorship industry grew 14% in 2017

MUMBAI: Sports sponsorship grew at 14 per cent in 2017 to Rs 7,300 crore from Rs 6,400 crore in 2016, led by media investments, according to a report.

Media investments contributed to the largest portion of the pie with 55 per cent of overall spends, followed by ground sponsorships, the ESP Properties - Sportzpower report said.

Media spends on sports grew by 15.8 per cent from Rs 3,511 crore to Rs 4,065 crore.

"Media spends driven even more strongly in 2017 by television, which grew an incredible 42.7 per cent, from Rs 2,367 crore to Rs 3,379 crore," it said.

On ground sponsorship grew by 14.7 per cent from Rs 1,165 crore to Rs 1,337 crore. Team Sponsorship was up by 17.1 per cent in 2017 from Rs 700 crore to Rs 819 crore, while franchise fees rose 24.8 per cent from Rs 548 crore to Rs 684 crore, led by developments in sports except cricket.

As per Groupm's forecast, Indian advertising expenditure in 2017 was Rs 61,263 crore, and the report estimates 12 per cent contribution to the overall ad spends are from sports sponsorship alone.

"While demonetisation and GST hit overall ad expenditure in 2017, the sports sector has been able to ride the storm with a steady and positive trajectory. All major sporting leagues managed to bring on board sponsors at a 100 per cent or more incremental value for the title sponsorship. Specifically, the IPL has emerged as one of the top five most valuable global sports properties in the world," the report said.

Overall sports endorsements has de-grown by 17 per cent, primarily due to Lionel Messi and Tiger Woods's deals got over with Tata Motors and Hero Motocorp, respectively.

However, cricket endorsement has grown by 15.5 per cent, with Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli leading with 19 brands and over Rs 150 crore worth of endorsement value. Ace badminton player PV Sindhu is leading the noncricket endorsement space with 11 brands and over Rs 30 crore worth of endorsement value.