P.V. Sindhu may have won the bronze in Tokyo, but she’s certainly struck gold back home.
The ace shuttler, the first Indian woman to win two Olympic medals, is likely to see a surge in her brand endorsement fee and value, said sports marketing executives.
Sindhu, who had won a silver in the 2016 Rio Olympics, could see her annual brand fee go up by more than 60% from ₹1.5-1.8 crore to ₹2-3 crore, they said.
“A few active discussions are going on,” said Tuhin Mishra, managing director and co-founder of Baseline Ventures, which manages her portfolio.
Mishra said Sindhu, 26, has clearly shown that she is a GOAT (Greatest of all time) of Indian sports. “Her medal-winning performance will surely help further add to the market value she commands. However, that’s secondary; most importantly, she helps inspire youngsters to dream and break the glass ceiling,” he added.
Sindhu currently has 10 deals with a variety of brands, including Bank of Baroda, Bridgestone Tyres, Visa India, Google, real estate firm Pooja Developers, Chinese sports brand Li Ning, Stayfree, PNB Metlife, Sharechat and Vizag Steel.
In 2016, after her Rio success, Sindhu emerged as an overnight favourite for many brands and has managed to maintain and expand her brand portfolio because of the popularity she enjoys. According to consultant Duff & Phelps’ estimates, Sindhu had about 10 endorsements at the end of 2020, and her brand value was about $12 million.
“We expect her brand value to increase significantly post her phenomenal success at the Tokyo Olympics. It may be difficult to quantify the increase at this stage. Brands would be looking at this fantastic opportunity to rope her in as a brand ambassador by leveraging her fame with the brand image,” said Aviral Jain, managing director, Duff & Phelps—a Kroll business.
Backed by impressive performances across the globe and a strong endorsement portfolio over the years, Sindhu today is the most successful female athlete in India in terms of brand endorsements and presence, Jain said.
“She has been signed on as a brand ambassador for many brands since badminton has a mass appeal, and fans follow her for her expertise, excellence and consistent performance. She has been a persistent, dependable and winning athlete throughout her career, and this attribute is what brands leverage since it’s in sync with their product image,” he noted.
Ritesh Nath, an independent sports consultant, agreed: “Sindhu already has an extremely rich bag of endorsements in any case, and that is a testimony that she does work for marketers. She has learnt to position and groom herself better in the market.”
But although Sindhu is one of India’s most successful female athletes, her brand value is only a fraction of cricketer Virat Kohli’s $237 million. Experts said marketing opportunities have opened up for female athletes only recently due to the growth of social media platforms.
With almost 8 million followers on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, Sindhu strikes a deep connection with fans, an accomplishment that homegrown social media platform Sharechat and video sharing app Moj are leveraging.
“We believe that she will inspire and encourage our communities to create and engage with the sports content,” said Shashank Shekhar, director -content strategy, Moj and ShareChat.
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