Striking gold in ad space

Women seem to be growing in stature in the sports arena, largely dominated by men. While Virat Kohli was the biggest sports celebrity endorsement in 2016, women Olympic winners PV Sindhu and Sakshi Malik were not far behind. They have led to non-cricket endorsements growing by 83.5% from Rs 42 crore in 2015 to Rs 77.1 crore in 2016, according to a GroupM ESP – SportzPower report.

Riding the wave of her Rio Games success, Sindhu signed a three-year deal in September with sports management company Baseline. Reported to be worth up to Rs 50 crore after factoring in performance bonuses, it is the highest ever for any non-Cricket player. Sindhu had signed six brands, including PepsiCo for sports drink Gatorade, with a cumulative endorsement value of Rs 7.5 crore by 2016-end.

"If one adds the Rs 13 crore in cash awards handed out to Sindhu in the spree of felicitations by Central, state and private bodies in the wake of her Rio heroics, that takes her well past Saina though," said the report. Saina Nehwal endorses brands such as Edelweiss Group, Kellogg's, ITC's Savlon and Huawei.

Sakshi Malik signed two brands after Rio and made to at least Rs 3.5 crore. She endorses brands Datsun and Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Haryana government ad campaign.

Besides these two athletes, some of the other top women sports endorsers are badminton queen Saina Nehwal, tennis star Sania Mirza and boxing legend Mary Kom.

Saina Nehwal, despite her injuries putting a dent to her Rio ambitions and some fair-weather media reporting that followed, the former world No.1 held her price line on endorsement rates as well as the 12 odd brands that were on board in 2015, earning approximately Rs 15 crore.

It is not only women endorsements that have grown in sports, female viewership in sports is growing too. Capitalising on this, a few advertisers and sponsors have taken the leap of faith. For example, Zivame tied-up with U Mumba to support a cause: "Outlining the need to safeguard the dignity of women". To promote 'Nayi Soch', Star India collaborated with the BCCI to highlight the importance of mothers in our lives.

Even sports associations have become aware of this and have organised tournaments for women such as ICC T20 World Cup for women and women's Pro Kabaddi League.

However, women sports endorsements are still small and are more to do with individual women athletes.

Vinit Karnik, Business Head – ESP Properties said, "From a performance stand point, it has been Sania Mirza, PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Deepa Karmakar, Sakshi Malik and Mary Kom. No sooner men start performing brands will approach them. Brands ultimately are looking at people who will influence their campaign promise. Its about how relevant the athlete is in the minds of consumers, so I don't think a brand is saying I want a female endorser, it is not about that. It is the ability of the endorsers to influence the consumer."

"Nobody has tracked a sport from a male-female point of view. BCCI doesn't even sell women's sponsorship separately, they club it with the men's sponsorship. So it is difficult to have an answer as we don't have a benchmark," he added.

Brand endorsements are individual in nature. It can be seen as Sania Mirza saw a drop in endorsements from six brands to four brands, as too the per deal value from Rs 0.6-0.8 crore in 2015 to Rs 0.5-0.6 crore in 2016. She endorses Adidas, Emami and Hathway. Her appearances on behalf of brands in Dubai continued though, just about keeping her in front of Mary Kom, said the report. Mary Kom had a total of 13 brand endorsements in 2016. However, it was down from 15 brands in 2015. Kom's earnings were at Rs 2.5 crore in 2016.