New Delhi: Twenty20 Cricket World Cup hero Yuvraj Singh is the highest earner among his teammates off the field with his endorsement value shooting over Rs 1 crore each and his fellow players' value will also go up after India's historic win, advertising professionals said on Tuesday.
Yuvraj, endorsing nine brands, including Hero Honda, Pepsi, Reebok and Donear, appears to be slightly ahead of his captain MS Dhoni, who endorses around a dozen brands such as Pepsi, Videocon, Exide and Reebok, among others, with an estimated value of Rs 1 crore per brand.
However, the trio of Indian cricket —Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid — are still ahead of Yuvraj and Dhoni in their endorsement values.
Industry pundits feel the T20 success has catapulted Dhoni's brand equity and already some new companies are trying to rope him in, saying he along with Yuvraj would be in maximum demand.
Other players, who were not much popular prior to the South African outing, are also expected to rake in big bucks with the Johannesburg victory washing away the bitter memories of India's early exit from the ODI World Cup in the West Indies earlier, prompting many advertisers and corporates to change their ad campaigns and brand ambassadors.
“There are a few companies which have contacted us and shown keen interest,” Jeet Banerjee, CEO of Gameplan Sports, which manages Dhoni's account, said. However, he said nothing changes overnight but the cricketers' endorsement value should go up if the team continues to play well.
Similarly, Collage Sports Management Director Latika Khaneja, who manages the accounts of Virendra Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, said, “I expect more endorsements for Sehwag, who is engaged with Adidas, if he is able to maintain his form. But it will be decided ones he gets back to ODIs.”
Experts say India's win in the Twenty20 World Cup has boosted the brand value of cricketers, raising expectations of media planners and broadcasters that the upcoming home series against Australia will spell good business.
Not only are the media planners bullish on the increased brand value of cricketers, including star performers Dhoni and Yuvraj, but official broadcaster for the India-Australia series Nimbus is also expecting it to be a sell-out in terms of advertisement spots.
The seven-match series starts on September 29.
According to some market observers, there is going to be a big change in Indian cricket in terms of brand endorsements with new and young players making their mark.
“I think there is a new lease of life in cricket with the new generation players in the game. The Yuvraj and Dhoni of today will become Sachin and Ganguly of tomorrow, while players like RP Singh, Robin Uthappa and Dinesh Karthik will become Yuvraj and Dhoni of yesterday,” Globosport India Vice-President Anirban Das Blah said.
Nimbus is expecting the series against Australia to be a sell-out as advertisers are showing interest in cricket again, after the early exit in the ODI World Cup in West Indies.
“We expect the up-coming India-Australia series to be a sell-out,” Nimbus Managing Director Harish Thawani said, adding, T20 had a positive impact on cricket. Whenever India has done well, there has always been a good response to cricket both from viewers and advertisers, he said.
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