IPL helped cricket contribute 87% to 2020 sports sponsorship; here's the industry's value

GroupM ESP recently released a report addressing the statistics of sports sponsorship in India for the year 2020. According to the report by GroupM ESP, the size of the Indian sports industry is estimated to be INR 5,894 crores in 2020. The report states that the biggest share of the sports industry went to the media where INR 3,657 crores were accounted for advertisement spends on TV, digital and print media. Sponsorship contribution in the form of on-ground and team sponsorships along with franchise fees contributed INR 1,673 crores to the industry.

IPL 2020 contributes majorly to the sports industry

The sports industry in India saw a major contribution from cricket to its sponsorship numbers. The IPL 2020 being a majority contributor to the sponsorship landscape helped cricket contribute INR 5133 crores to the sports industry in India. Other sports in India collectively contributed INR 761 crores to the sports industry.

Even though the world experienced long periods of lockdown in 2020, athlete endorsements gained momentum and grew 5% more than in 2019. This can be contributed to the fact that the pandemic caused a significant rise in the social media activity of people. It caused an increase in the influencer landscape on social media for the athletes.

Increase in player endorsement

Players from the cricket world yet again dominated this number. A total of 275 endorsement deals were made by cricket players out of the 377 total endorsement deals made in 2020. Last year also saw female athletes bringing in brands.

The IPL 2020 had to postpone its schedule and shift to a completely different venue due to the pandemic situation. The BCCI shifted the IPL 2020 to the UAE and resumed it from September 2020. Fans along with the sponsors were delighted to see the league continue its services from the UAE.

Dream11 IPL as title sponsor

Along with the pandemic situation, the BCCI also had to face backlash due to VIVO being the title sponsor for IPL 2020. When the league was resumed in September 2020, a new title sponsor was announced and the Dream11 IPL 2020 started on September 19. The BCCI had to create strict protocols for the functioning of the IPL 2020 and the league carried out its operations smoothly.

IPL 2021 sponsors

Currently, the IPL 2021 is being carried out in India during its regular season. VIVO has returned as the title sponsor of IPL 2021 with Star Sports having the media rights to broadcast the tournament. The IPL 2021 sponsors for co-presenting includes Dream11, BYJU’s, PhonePe and Justdial. The IPL 2021 is co-powered by Upstox and Vimal Eaichi. The Unacademy IPL 2021 sponsorship continues to grow dividends for both parties, as the Indian edtech brand was also the official partner of the IPL 2020.

Image Source: IPL Website