Going beyond Cricket in sports marketing

I grew up in '90s India'. An India fuelled by a strong sense of who we are; Unapologetically rooted in our culture and sentiments. We loved our religion, our movies, and our cricket. Religion created godmen, movies created stars, and cricket created sportsmen; all with a massive unwavering fan following. Naturally, these three forces also turned into massive industries and money flowed through. 

Apart from cricket, no other sport was a career to build on nor was it mainstream. There were heroes in every sport, however, it was always limited to just one or two. Tennis had Paes and Bhupathi, Chess had Anand, Hockey had Pillay, Football had Bhutia, and the tracks had the legendary PT Usha. But the mighty sport of cricket had almost the entire national team, each of whom were brands in themselves, reeking in massive revenue for the sport and self-endorsements.

This craze pushed on until 2013-14 when there was a sense of a New India. An India who still loved her roots, but was willing to explore newer strengths, interests, and role models. We saw the likes of the ISL, ProKabaddi, Hockey India League, and Premier Badminton League, all spring up in this 2-3 year period, bringing in a fresh chance to these sports. We also saw the entire nation rally behind athletes like Sunil Chhetri, PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Abhinav Bindra, and more recently, Neeraj Chopra, amongst others on the national stage - winning medals and our hearts.

I would say the results took time, but they have definitely arrived. We can see a growth of non-cricket-led sports through the years in terms of viewership and popularity. 

The Indian Super League has supplemented the popularity of the English Premier League amongst the youth, having seen first-hand, groups of millennials and Gen-Z friends discuss the transfers of the likes of Jason Cummings to Mohun Bagan SG along with the transfers of Casemiro to Manchester United. 

The Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) has been one of the surprises as it generated record viewership. On the very first day, PKL attracted 22 million viewers, ten times the number of viewers who tuned into the first match of the FIFA World Cup!

The Hockey India League averaged around 40 million viewers from 2014 to 2017, with its final year (2017) garnering 105 million viewers. Launched in 2016, the Premier Badminton League – reached more than 100 million badminton fans in India through TV, on-ground activities, various social media, and other platforms in the past 5 seasons. (Source: PBL-India.com)

Now, let’s take a look at the athletes and sportspersons in India. MNCs and corporate India are not just looking at cricketers for endorsements. We have seen the likes of track star Hima Das sign a deal with Adidas, UNICEF and SBI; PV Sindhu sign an alleged whopping 50 Cr deal with Chinese sports brand Li Nung; Neeraj Chopra signing deals with CRED, TATA AIA Life Insurance, MuscleBlaze, Gillette, Country Delhi, and Mahindra. And rightly so! Brands are seeing similar if not better returns in ‘share-of-voice’ and ‘virality’ metrics while using non-cricket athletes. The engagement vs cost of endorsement also makes for better business sense for marketers while deciding upon their next ambassador. In short, they make for excellent brand ambassadors. 

Cricket-related spends in India have grown from INR 8411 Cr in 2021 to INR 12115 Cr in 2022 that’s a 44% growth. Whereas, emerging or non-cricket led spends in India have grown from INR 1119 Cr to INR 2094 Cr during the same period, growing an astonishing 87%! The % share of spending on cricket overall has dropped by 3% in this period (Source – GroupM ESP). 

We are seeing a gradual growth of interest and loyalty towards emerging sports in India and with that, a steady increase of money spent as well. It’s wise for brands to look towards a ‘sport-led marketing strategy’ rather than just a ‘cricket-led approach’, reaping rewards in the short and long term. And with that, we should accept that India’s marriage to cricket will be everlasting, but we can always make a place in our hearts for other sports.

This article is penned by Aatef Bham, the co-founder of the agency, Togglehead, which has recently launched its sports marketing division, Togglehead Sports. He is leading the agency’s digital and marketing divisions.