Cricket and Advertising

Today we are breathing air with the new generation of Indian cricket. The likes of Dhonis, Kohlis and Rainas have taken Indian cricket to a level which was like a dream way back in 1983. Under MS Dhoni India has conquered T20 World Cup, ODI World Cup and the latest trophy is the ICC Champions Trophy. Cricket is nothing less than a religion in India. Though Sachin is the God and the real inspiration for the whole nation, it was the World Cup winning team of 1983 which sparked the hunger and passion for the game of cricket.

Group photo of all the teams participating 

in Benson & Hedges World Cup '92

(L-R) Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni

 Exactly 30 years back, on the historical date of 25^th June 1983 India was crowned as the World Champions of cricket. Cricketers like Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar soon became cricketing stars. The whole nation went crazy after these new star faces. Cricket was catching eye and the Ad gurus opened the doors when opportunity was knocking on it. Kapil Dev became the first star brand on Indian Television with his Palmolive ka jawab nahin advertisement. Cricket gradually became a medium for advertising. These stars started endorsing big brands. Emergence of Sachin Tendulkar was a big boost for the advertising industry. Honest and hard working image of Sachin helped brands like Johnson and Johnson(Band-Aid), Pepsi and Action Shoes to gain popularity. Brand logos started appearing on boundary boards, playing grass and side screens. Few brands like and Reliance, Benson and Hedges and Singer went a step ahead and sponsored international tournaments. Those who couldn’t grab a space as title sponsor found a place of their own on the bats. Who can ever forget the symbolic MRF bat, which Sachin raised after scoring numerous tons? Rahul Dravid carried a Britannia sticker on bat; Virender Sehwag did it for Hero Honda. Today Virat and Dhoni have Nike and Reebok respectively, as their bat sponsors.

Television viewers have to sit through the Ads which come between overs or after a fall of wicket. The batsman walking out to bat isn't always considered worthy enough to be televised. Sometimes ads pop up even before a ball reaches the boundary or an umpire gives his verdict for an appeal. It is also said that cricket is shown between advertisements. Undoubtedly this the biggest con of watching cricket match on television, but a huge amount of money is splashed to buy that little space between the overs.

            

In the last 15 years, Indian cricket has gone through a major transformation. Indian cricket team got a T-shirt sponsor in the form of Sahara India Pariwar. Indian Premier League (IPL) provided an international platform for many emerging brands. DLF bagged exclusive rights to the IPL in 2008 for over Rs 200 crore. For over five seasons of IPL, every six was announced as DLF maximum on satellite television. In the sixth season Pepsi took over from DLF.

Advertisements have also become a major source of income for today’s cricketing stars. MS Dhoni broke into top 20 on Forbes highest-paid athletes list. He earns a staggering $31.5 M (188,33,85,000) every year, out of which $28 M (167,41,20,000) comes from endorsements. MS Dhoni has already raced ahead of Sachin Tendulkar who earns $18 M from endorsements and the other young guns are catching up very quickly.

This is a list of top 5 Indian cricketers on the basis of endorsement earnings.

Cricketer	Endorsement Earnings	Brands Endorsed
MS Dhoni	$28 M	Pepsi, Reebok, Lays, Boost, Exide, TVS, Dabur, Titan, Gulf Oil
Sachin Tendulkar	$18 M	Aviva Insurance, Coca-Cola, Jaypee Cement, Adidas, Toshiba, Castrol, Luminous, Rbs Banking
Virat Kohli	$9 M	Nike, Pepsico, Toyota, Karbonn Mobiles, TVS, Cinthol, Nestle
Virender Sehwag	$4.1 M	Hero, Fila, Jaypee cement
Gautam Gambhir	$4 M	MRF, Reebok, BHPC, Lays, Royal Stag

(Source: www.tsmplug.com)

Three decades back history was made in field of sports, but who would have ever thought that it will benefit the advertising universe. Cricket comes with the guarantee that it will never slump in India, which also assures new heroes and attractive faces for the advertising industry. Even the Ad people will say ‘long live cricket’, but for a completely different reason.