Companies queue up to advertise with youngest-ever world chess champion Gukesh

As the news poured in from Singapore, marketers had found a new mascot.

Over the weekend, a range of FMCG, gaming companies, and others were lining up to partner with Gukesh to tap into his growing popularity and advertise their wares. The chess champion, whose fabulous feat sparked a veritable ownership battle between Tamil Nadu, where he was born, and Andhra Pradesh where his family hails from, is expected to charge anywhere between ₹70 lakh to ₹1 crore per year per endorsement, at least two people in the know told Mint.

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Last week, Gukesh etched his name in history by becoming the youngest-ever World Chess Champion at just 18. In a dramatic conclusion to the 2024 World Chess Championship in Singapore, Gukesh defeated Liren in the 14th and final game to secure a 7.5-6.5 victory. With this win, Gukesh shattered a decades-old record set by Garry Kasparov, who became champion at 22 in 1985.

He also joined the ranks of India’s chess legend Viswanathan Anand, a five-time world champion, who last held the title in 2013.

Tuhin Mishra of Baseline Ventures, which managed three of the recent brand partnerships of Gukesh, confirmed that they have received endorsement offers from several companies in the categories of FMCG, computer, gaming and some corporate houses over the weekend.

The company will wait to discuss the same with his family to understand their interest. Baseline Ventures had secured  endorsement deals for the young champion, including partnerships with Mondelez's Cadbury chocolate digital ad campaign in May, one with RBL Bank, and one with a property company Property Share.

With his global profile on the rise, Gukesh is likely to attract even more brands in the coming months. "His victory is a moment in time when it comes to chess. We have a huge pipeline of talent in the sport now, and even the recent private chess league has done well compared to other leagues. The sport itself was earlier considered staid and boring. Now it's become 'cool'. We don't have a world champion in any sport. Brands that sign him up must take that into account," Indranil Das Blah, a sports and entertainment industry professional and founder of AMP Sports, told Mint.

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He added that while in the context of global sports, India has dominated cricket, but cricket is not considered a 'global' sport. "We've had other flashes in the pan like tennis where Sania Mirza -- even though she was not number one -- became a global star. There were also some badminton players, and track and field athletics with Neeraj Chopra. We don't have a world champion in any sport. One of the easy things is to do moment marketing and he will close some deals in the next few months, but what happens after that? How will he keep his brand alive? The kind of brands he will sign will be interesting to see as they should be tactical deals and hold on to sign on the longer duration deals," Blah said.

‘Long runway ahead’

Brand marketing and advertising professionals said Gukesh has a long career ahead, but warned that taking up too many endorsements could distract him, hurting his standing in the game.

"Gukesh has a long runway ahead of him at 18. A world champion is obviously a very desirable brand ambassador to have for many brands - especially those in the cerebral space. But Gukesh has to know that the endorsements need to be handled carefully - trying to amass a lot of money immediately can be counterproductive. We have seen that with the likes of Prithvi Shaw, who had too much of a windfall, then famine. Gukesh should sign up some good brands - Indian and global, and let his fame grow as also his brand esteem," said Sandeep Goyal, chairperson of advertising agency Rediffusion.

According to a report from July 2024 on celebrity brand valuations, Bollywood stars dominated two-thirds of the top 25 valuations, with sports figures—primarily cricketers—accounting for 28-29%. Kroll, the financial and risk advisory firm that put out the report said it did not expect a significant rise in non-cricket sports personalities breaking into the top 25. In 2023, celebrity brand values in India saw a 15.5% surge, reaching $1.9 billion. As per the same report, Neeraj Chopra's brand value was about $40 million, or about ₹330 crore.

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