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Vinit Karnik Business Head - ESP Properties [email protected]

The team at ESP Properties (the Entertainment & Sports division of GroupM) is excited to bring to you the seventh edition of the "Sporting Nation in the Making". This industry initiative from us is aimed at giving you a ringside view of the Sports Sponsorship Industry in India.

2019 was a year that saw a strong While we won a Gold Medal at the The report analyses the sports uptrend that was driven by , World Junior Track Cycling industry from four angles - Ground India’s most popular sport. The ICC Championship, our Table Tennis Sponsorship, Team Sponsorship & World Cup was an important event team was able to achieve its highest Franchise, Athlete Endorsement and in the Indian Cricket Team’s ever ITTF ranking last year. Our Media Spends. All the numbers calendar in a year that saw us women athletes did the nation proud mentioned in the report are nett of achieve good amount of success on with victories in diverse sporting taxes. In addition to giving you key the field. This marquee event, with events like , Track & Field, investment trends in each of these its league format that guaranteed at Weightlifting and Motorsport. Outside areas, it also captures the digital data least nine matches for all the teams, of cricket, the leading athletes in (social conversations & search), was a high point from a commercial brand endorsement were women. along with the On Air elements in perspective too. Team India’s While the main franchise leagues each of the major sporting leagues to matches round the year, along with continued their saga in 2019, we increase the utility to Rights Owners, the IPL, ensured that cricket played also saw fresh beginnings with an Advertisers, and Agencies. In addition a lead role in propelling the industry alternate competition and to sharing the quantitative picture of to a growth of 17% with 59% of the new leagues in boxing and racing 2019, the report also examines the incremental revenue coming from playing out their debut season. qualitative aspects of the industry too, media spends. There was so that you get a clear understanding significant upward movement in 2019 saw a digital revolution of the reasons behind the trends, Ground Sponsorship value, which sweeping across sports with OTT along with the extent of the same. We was made possible by the new media gaining ground with the gratefully acknowledge the valuable lucrative deals signed by BCCI. Indian fans. While TV advertising contributions provided by rights continued to grow, brands are owners, agencies and industry Cricket continued to dominate the clearly seeing a role for digital participants who have supported us brand endorsement space by media in their marketing mix. Media with vital insights and information in outgrowing other sports and is only one part of the influence of the preparation of this report. increased its share to 85%. If we technology in sports; teams are look beyond cricket, it was a good showing an increasing propensity to Our endeavor has been to provide year for Indian athletes at invest in tech-enabled solutions to you with an informative report and international events. Our Shooting boost their performance levels. 2019 we believe that it will give you a team did particularly well and also saw many Indian technology useful picture of the industry. We will emerged as world leaders, claiming majors being roped in for analytics be happy to receive feedback or our best ever participation quota at and other solutions by governing suggestions that could enhance the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. bodies for big sporting events. future editions of this report. CONTENTS

HIGH-SCORING YEAR FOR A SPORTING ECO-SYSTEM 01-06

GROUND REALITIES INDICATE RESOUNDING GROWTH FOR CRICKET 07-16

INDIAN ESPORTS AND THE GAMING INDUSTRY 17-18 BIG GUNS STEADY THE INNINGS WHILE NEWCOMERS PLAY THEIR PART IN A SOLID TEAM EFFORT 19-22

BRAND VIRAT LEADS THE CHARGE AS CRICKETERS STEP UP THE SCORING RATE 23-28

OVER-THE-TOP HITTING BY CRICKET ON MEDIA 29-32

2020 VISION FOR A YEAR OF OLYMPIC PROPORTIONS 33-38 HIGH-SCORING YEAR FOR A SPORTING ECO-SYSTEM

The growth juggernaut rolled on in 2019 with Ground Sponsorship and Media Spends contributing significantly to the upside. On both these fronts, major push came from the ICC World Cup as well as the IPL, as cricket continued to hold the nation enraptured. Not surprisingly, cricketers continued to score heavily for brands, driving the endorsement revenue to greater heights. Many Indian athletes won us laurels at international events in a year that saw some sporting leagues making their debut in India.

01 Sporting Nation In The Making VII / High-scoring year07 for a Sportingsporting eco-systemNation In The Making VII / High-scoring year for a sporting eco-system 08 02 It was a year of commercial success title sponsorship rights at a bid value in Indian sports. 2019 saw a healthy which was 58% higher than what 17% growth in the overall Sports they paid in the previous cycle. Sponsorship market in India with the Dream11, LafargeHolcim (ACC value crossing the mark of ` 9000 Cement and Ambuja Cement) and Cr. ($ 1286 Mn) for the first time ever. Hyundai came in as Official Sponsors If we look further into the past, we for the next four years, making the can see a strong CAGR of 12.8% in deal 73% more lucrative than the the business of sports over the last 10 previous cycle. Complementing Team years, making it one of the better India’s schedule was the Indian performing sectors in the economy. Premier League (IPL), the annual This number considers revenue from cricket extravaganza that is now part Ground Sponsorship, Team of the Indian spirit. With Vivo as the Sponsorship & Franchise Fee, Athlete Title Sponsor and with Tata Motors, Endorsements, and Media Spends. Star India and Future Group as Not in purview of this report are Gate Official Partners, the league also had Receipts, Player Fee/Salary, Prize brands like Dream11, Ceat Tyre and Money, Merchandizing, Subscription, Paytm as part of the bandwagon. Sports Goods and Operational Cost. Brands like MyTeam11 and Netmeds sponsored Team India’s overseas The launch of India’s pre-eminent tours, while we saw investments from sporting league, the IPL, was Hero and Dream11 in franchise effectively a new beginning for sports cricket outside India. in the country. The last decade saw a huge growth curve in Sports Sponsorship with this cricketing fiesta evolving into its current scale, as well as the adoption of the IPL format to other sports disciplines too. The numbers in 2019 showed us a reinforcement of this trend, with the lion’s share of the incremental revenue coming from Ground Sponsorship and Advertising Spends on media. Overall Ground Sponsorship value has been on the up year after year, and last year saw the growth trajectory getting even steeper, with a whopping increment of 25% over 2018. Making this possible was cricket, India’s national obsession. The high point of the 2019 sporting calendar for us was the ICC World Cup in which India was one of the teams to look out for. Following this high-profile event, there was a long home season for the national team in which we had a very successful run. The new BCCI home series deals delivered at a significantly higher scoring rate than before, for instance Paytm won the

03 Sporting Nation In The Making VII / High-scoring year for a sporting eco-system In a significant shift, the online we also saw the debut season of the learning platform Byju’s replaced Indo International Premier Kabaddi Oppo as Team India’s Sponsor League, Big Bout Indian Boxing after the World Cup that was held League and X1 Racing League. Like in . 67% of all Team in the IPL, there was no change in Sponsorship value in 2019 came the number of teams for ISL, PKL, from cricket. With the No. 1 sport PBL and PWL. As a result, there was moving in the fast lane, we saw the no major change in Franchise Fee, (ISL) and Pro with the marginal delta mainly Kabaddi (PKL) being held successfully coming from the leagues that made at their respective scales. While their debut. many proposed sporting leagues are in different stages of planning,

04 Cricketers dominated the endorsement industry that grew by 11%; further 57% of the total Sports Sponsorship increasing their share in the total pie. In 2019, we saw 70 new brand Industry was on account of media endorsement deals being signed, 50 of which involved cricket players. spends, which delivered ` 800 Cr. Including these new contracts, we had a total of 329 endorsement deals that ($ 114 Mn) out of the total increment were valid last year, out of which 228 involved cricketers. What this means is of ` 1347 Cr. ($ 192 Mn) over last that 69% of all endorsement deals were with cricket players, delivering a value year. The total growth in advertising share of 85%. led from the front on the cricket field and also in the expenses was an impressive 18%, list of brand endorsers; he was followed by his predecessor as the India with TV, the largest medium, showing skipper, M S Dhoni. The two of them accounted for 63% of the total brand a growth of 13%. Cricket played a endorsement value across all sports! Other than the star players in Team key role in this solid growth figure, India, we also saw a few women athletes from individual sports, led by P V with the ICC World Cup proving to Sindhu, becoming brand endorsers to reckon with. be just the right property for brands to associate with. Consumers shifted rapidly towards digital medium with the advent of OTT, leading to 2019 saw Indian sports growing confidence of advertisers in getting stronger as a it. 2019 saw many online fantasy platform for businesses to sports platforms becoming big in connect and engage with India. Leading the charge with an their customers. The array of 18 cricket stars across emphatic growth in different campaigns to boost their Ground Sponsorship and user base and engagement levels, the strong increase in was Dream11; other platforms like Media Spends, consistently MyTeam11, My11Cirle, MPL and others have added excitement by over a period of time, are giving options for the digitally savvy proof of it. The industry Indian sports lover. As brands has almost doubled in a shifted to TV and digital media as five-year span; and the part of their marketing strategy, we road ahead looks even saw further decline in spends on better as we look forward print media. to yet another decade of great sporting action.

05 Sporting Nation In The Making VII / High-scoring year for a sporting eco-system SPORTS INDUSTRY DATA

2018 (` Cr.) 2018 ($ Mn) 2019 (` Cr.) 2019 ($ Mn) Ground Sponsorship 1603 236 2006 287 Team Sponsorship 892 131 934 133

Franchise 353 52 400 57

Endorsement 482 71 537 77

Media Spends 4432 652 5232 747

Total 7762 1141 9109 1301

Source – ESP Properties 2018 Conversion Rate 1$ = ` 68 2019 Conversion Rate 1$ = ` 70

• Sports Industry crossed ` 9000 Cr. / $1301 Mn mark in 2019. • Overall growth in Sports Sponsorship is healthy – 17% • Ground Sponsorship & Media Spends contributed majorly towards this growth – 25% and 18% respectively • Media spends contributed ` 800 Cr. / $11 Mn to the overall growth of ` 1347 Cr. / $19 Mn • IPL & ICC ODI World Cup were the major contributor

06 07 Sporting Nation In The Making VII / Ground realities indicate resounding growth for Cricket GROUND REALITIES INDICATE RESOUNDING GROWTH FOR CRICKET

2019 was a landmark year Backed by strong sponsorship deliveries and a conducive schedule of home matches for for ground sponsorships in the national team, India’s most popular sport India with the ` 2000 Cr. enjoyed strong revenue growth vis-à-vis 2018. While cricket was the undisputed ($ 286 Mn) peak being leader, we saw Football and Kabaddi scaled for the first time ever. continuing their race for the second place in a year that saw a lack of fresh impetus for It was a year that further both these sports. At one end, while distance reinforced the status of running made gains as a participative sport, 2019 was a rather uneventful year for pre-eminence that cricket hockey. Adding to the total revenue were sports like tennis and golf, as well as new enjoys in Indian sports. sporting leagues that were played for the first time. The year also witnessed sports-oriented fantasy gaming platforms gaining significant levels of traction.

08 LEADING FROM THE FRONT WITH A CAPTAIN’S KNOCK

When your asking rate is high, you look up to your best player to come up with The presence of Indian brands was an inspiring innings that sets up the game well for the team; this is exactly not restricted to matches within the what cricket did for Indian sports last year. The total ground sponsorship country; 2019 happened to see revenue across all sporting activities was ` 2006 Cr. ($ 287 Mn), a strong 25% many such associations in away increment over 2018. This performance was driven mainly by cricket, which series too. Netmeds was the Title delivered a strong growth of 43% with a total revenue of `1290 Cr. ($ 184 Mn). Sponsor when New Zealand hosted BCCI’s official sponsorship scoreboard was bolstered by strong associations India in a bilateral series while led by Paytm, which retained the Title Sponsorship rights till 2023 for an MyTeam11 was the Title Sponsor for amount of ` 326.8 Cr. ($ 47 Mn). At ` 3.8 Cr. ($ 0.54 Mn) per match, this deal the India-West Indies series held in with the mobile payments’ platform paid off very well for India’s governing the Caribbean Islands. Continuing body for cricket since this bid was 58% higher than the previous per match to sponsor bilateral series away from sponsorship value of ` 2.4 Cr. ($ 0.34 Mn). In addition to Paytm, the year also home were brands like Byju’s, Hero, saw BCCI completing the dream team by roping in Dream11, LafargeHolcim UltraTech, Royal Stag and Kent. Hero (ACC Cement and Ambuja Cement) and Hyundai Motor as official sponsors Motor Corp was the Title Sponsor for for the next four years. These three partnerships accounted for ` 2.59 Cr. the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) ($ 0.37 Mn) per match, which was of 72% higher value than in the previous this year also while Dream11 got cycle. Pepsi continued to provide the extra fizz as the official beverage partner even more entwined with cricket by till December 2019 while the drive with Hyundai commenced from January associating with franchise leagues 1st 2020. outside India. The fantasy sports brand signed up with Super Smash, Enabling this strong performance was a favorable cricketing calendar. Team New Zealand’s cricket league as India played 24 matches at home last year, which was more than double the Title Sponsor even as they joined number in 2018 when we hosted only 11 matches. While the national team hands with Australia’s Big Bash had a string of impressive victories at home, the busy season also contributed League (BBL) and the CPL as Official to the whopping growth figure in ground sponsorships. Add to this, 2019 was Partner. Domestic cricket leagues the year of the ODI World Cup which was an emphatic success with 12 of the continued to flourish in India in 2019 21 commercial partners coming from India and contributing to 74% of total with Premier League advertising revenue. With the national team fixtures playing a more significant (TNPL) seeing successful years in role than they did in 2018, the (IPL) further accelerated their fourth season. The encouraging the scoring rate for cricket through continued association with partner brands. trend for these competitions is the Vivo continued to partner the league as the Title Sponsor, while Tata Motors, fact that the existing partners Future Group and Star were Official Partners in 2019 also. Paytm stayed on continued to associate with them with the association as the Umpire Sponsor while Ceat Tyre continued the even as new brands came on board journey as the Strategic Time Out Partner. The year also saw Dream11 as event partners. engaging the fervent cricket fans even more with their entry into the IPL fold as an Official Partner.

09 Sporting Nation In The Making VII / Ground realities indicate resounding growth for Cricket DISTANT SECOND IN A SEESAW BATTLE

In the past few years, Football and Kabaddi had interchanged the second and While the cricket third positions as far as ground sponsorship revenues are concerned. 2019 juggernaut rolled on, saw the world’s most popular team sport edging out Kabaddi for the No.2 football saw a de-growth spot in a position switch that can be attributed to a sharper revenue dip for the of 6% with a revenue latter. From a more optimistic perspective, the sport did generate a CAGR of delivery of ` 140 Cr. 8.5% over the past three years, which is encouraging. Cricket might be in ($ 20 Mn). With the Indian another orbit in the sub-continent, but Football does have its following in India with brands continuing to associate with the game. Hero Moto Corp stayed Super League (ISL) Central with the sport and was the Title Sponsor at the ISL with an investment of Sponsorships not matching around ` 50-60 Cr. (around $ 8 Mn). Contributing a cumulative amount of ` up to the 2018 deliveries, 35 Cr. ($ 5 Mn) to Central Sponsorship were Maruti and DHL as Associate football had a second Sponsors and Bisleri, Apollo Tyres, Nivea and Dream11 as official ISL successive year of partners. While 2019 saw Dream11 making its foray into European soccer by de-growth, with a number signing up with the La Liga, the online gaming app was not the only Indian significantly lower than the brand there; giving them company was BKT Tyres with their global partnership tally in 2017 when India deal with the Spanish football league. hosted the FIFA U17 event.

10 No. 3 position. Vivo had bagged the title rights for the PKL for five years starting 2017 for ` 262 Cr. ($ 37 Mn); this meant an approximate value of ` 50 Cr. ($ 7 Mn) for 2019. Tata Motors, and Dream11 were the Associate Sponsors while UltraTech cemented their role as Official Partner; these four brands contributing around ` 40 Cr. ($ 5.7 Mn) to the revenue from Kabaddi’s GRAPPLING WITH THE GROWTH CURVE coffers. 2019 also saw the launch of the Indo International Premier Kabaddi has been raiding the Indian sports scenario since the advent of the Kabaddi League (IIPKL), which had Pro Kabaddi (PKL). However, in the absence of fresh infusion of energy, the Parle G on board as the Title sport struggled with the growth conundrum and declined by 15% to ` 128 Cr. Sponsor and Fogg as the Powered ($ 18 Mn) in 2019, thereby dropping below football in overall value to the By Sponsor.

TROUBLE WITH THE DRIBBLE

After India hosted the Hockey World Cup in 2018, considerable excitement was generated with the Government strengthening their ties with the national team in the sport that once represented India’s Olympic glory. However, 2019 did not see many commercial goals being scored on the turf. While the absence of a world-level event did hamper the year-on-year numbers, the real disappointment was the fact that the (HIL) could not be held even though there were hopes that the event will make a return in a more exciting format. India was once at the pinnacle of the hockey world; today the game has conceded space to cricket and others in terms of public appeal. It is a sport with a rich legacy in the country and still enjoys a following; but it certainly needs a fillip.

11 Sporting Nation In The Making VII / Ground realities indicate resounding growth for Cricket WINNING IN THE LONG RUN

2019 was another year of growth for long distance running with more and more Indians taking up running as part of a fitness-conscious lifestyle. Having reached the ` 100 Cr. (around $ 14 Mn) mark in 2018, distance running gained even more momentum last year with a 15% incremental delivery, giving a revenue of ` 123 Cr. ($ 17.6 Mn), an upswing that is contributed by price increase as well as entry of new brands into the list of sponsors. The Tata Group continued to support distance running with Tata Sons sponsoring the famous Mumbai Marathon even as Tata Steel decided to lend strength to the 25K while TCS did the same for the 10K. While Airtel sponsored the half marathon of the national capital, we also saw brands organizing long distance running events; like Amity Group, which organized the Gurgaon Marathon and IDBI, which got the and Kolkata Half Marathons running, while the Green Marathon had SBI to bank on.

HITS AND MISSES ARE PART OF THE GAME

The Women’s Indian Open the overall growth in 2019 were Pro was supported by Hero Wrestling League and Premier Motor Corp, DLF, Castrol, Badminton League, while Ultimate Asahi, R&A, Airtel, Clix, Table Tennis League happened without any major sponsor. ABG, Amway, INV Home Regarding the events that did not get and Good Hab. While Tata organized last year, other than HIL, Steel came on board as a 2019 was a year of miss for the PGTI partner, the year also . saw Incredible India and Rolex continuing their Tennis and Golf were also part of the association with the sport. 2019 story. The Open was a prominent tennis event that Like the years before, 2019 also happened last year in India with Tata witnessed new leagues being played Sons supporting it as the Title Sponsor. out for the first time. Pro Golf too had a good run with Hero league had its inaugural season with Motor Corp and Tata Sons being the RuPay as the Title Sponsor. The main contributors to the revenue; with Associate Sponsors were Bank of the Indian Open having another Baroda, Nippon Paints and Peter successful year with the two-wheeler England while Penna Cement and major as the main sponsor. Gulf Oil were Official Partners. 2019 also saw Big Bout Indian Boxing League and X1 Racing League making their debut, like IIPKL about which we mentioned earlier. Other sporting leagues that contributed to

12 THE GAMES HAVE JUST BEGUN

2019 was also the year in which Dream11’s associations went beyond cricket; in addition to, the PKL and the fantasy sports platforms gained huge ISL, they were a Global Partner for the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) and the levels of user engagement. Official Fantasy League Partner for the National Association (NBA). Dream11, already a unicorn from In terms of share of mind of the digitally engaged sports lover from India, India, invested significantly in sports 2019 was a year in which Dream11 enjoyed huge groundswell. properties within the country as well as outside. They were present as an While Dream11 was the first mover in this space, they are not alone now. Official Partner for BCCI Home 2019 saw MyTeam11 coming forward in the cricketing world as the Title Cricket Series as well as in the IPL. In Sponsor for the India - West Indies Series. Cricket is a big contributor to the addition to associating with India’s overall user engagement levels for these platforms given the popularity of the foremost sporting league at a central sport in their main market; but they see opportunities in other sporting level, they also were in team sponsor activities too. With more than one player in the equation and with the sports list for Delhi Capitals, Mumbai lovers demonstrated increasing propensity to be digitally engaged, it is game Indians, Rajasthan Royals, Kings XI time now at major sporting events! Punjab, Super Kings, Sunrisers and Kolkata Overall, it was a year of strong financial performance that was driven by a Knight Riders. At the biggest ODI huge incremental delivery from cricket. If we drill down to the details, there tournament, the World Cup, they were some great wins, along with a few missed opportunities too. As brands were event partners, further continue to engage more with sporting activities, the 5-year CAGR for Ground strengthening their connect with the Sponsorships in India is now at a very healthy 20%; this is a piece of data that game. In addition to associating with bears testimony to the growing relevance of sports as a medium for businesses overseas cricket leagues, the fantasy and brands to connect with their customers. league brand was associated with the Premier League and Mumbai T20 too. Dream11 was also a Team Sponsor for the New Zealand cricket team.

13 Sporting Nation In The Making VII / Ground realities indicate resounding growth for Cricket ON GROUND SPONSORSHIP

2018 (` Cr.) 2018 ($ Mn) 2019 (` Cr.) 2019 ($ Mn)

Cricket 899 132 1290 184

Football 149 22 140 20

Kabaddi 150 22 128 18

Marathon 107 16 123 18

Golf 50 7 54 8

Other Sports 248 36 272 39

Total 1603 236 2006 287

Source – ESP Properties 2018 Conversion Rate 1$ = ` 68 2019 Conversion Rate 1$ = ` 70

• On Ground Sponsorship grew by 25%. First time On Ground Sponsorship Crossed ` 2000 Cr. Mark • Indian Cricket has grown by 43% • Football & Kabaddi shown degrowth by 6% and 15% respectively • New Leagues Started in 2019: • Indo International Premier Kabaddi League • Big Bout Indian Boxing League • X1 Racing League

14 LEAGUE DATA

Social Search TV Reach TV Conversations Volues Facebook Twitter Instagram IPL Franchise in 000’s Ratings in 000’s in 000’s in 000’s in 000’s in 000’s Indian Premier League 4,62,344 3.26 6,700 1,42,405 20,000 7,100 3,400 Pro Kabbadi 3,28,268 1.10 1,300 10,346 1,500 300 325 Indian Super League 1,67,369 0.26 753 19,488 4,200 695 858

Source – ESP Properties. Source for TVR & Reach – BARC, TG – 2+, ALL NCCS, All India *ISL data is till December 2019

• IPL is the Numero Uno sports league in India - TV Reach of IPL is 1.4x of the next best league i.e. PKL and almost 3x of ISL in 2019 • While ISL franchises outshout their PKL counterparts on social media by leaps and bounds, at a league level, social conversations around PKL are 1.7x that of ISL • IPL scores a whopping 9x Social Conversations of ISL • Just like social media chatter, search volumes establish a similar relationship between IPL and other leagues • IPL search volumes were almost 14x of PKL – the 2nd best league in the country in terms of TV reach in 2019! • Surprisingly, while PKL - as a league – generated greater chatter on social platforms in 2019 as compared to ISL, the football league drew almost 2x search queries as compared to PKL

15 Sporting Nation In The Making VII / Ground realities indicate resounding growth for Cricket 16 INDIAN ESPORTS

AND THE GAMING Akshat Rathee Co-founder and Managing Director, INDUSTRY NODWIN Gaming The gamer base (PC+consoles+mobiles) of India is comfortably sitting at over 300 million regular gamers. Take a note of the fact that 89 percentage of the gamers are consumers of mobile games. It is not surprising to know that one of the biggest smartphone markets in the world contributes to the majority consumption of mobile games on the planet. Thus making mobile esports the key player in driving the country to the forefront.

17 Sporting Nation In The Making VII / Indian esports and the gaming industry The Indian esports landscape is one numbers rose quickly to 16,000 in The numbers reached ` 8 Cr. ($ 1.14 of the very few cases of fascinating 2019 and is expected to touch Mn) in 2019 and is projected over shifts. A market in its nascent stage, 50,000+ in 2020. ` 15 Cr. ($ 2.14 Mn) in 2020. all of a sudden turns into an esports superpower which has the eyes of the The rapid growth of the industry Viewership is a key factor in growth world on it. attracted big brands and large and popularity of esports. With the sponsorships. Giants like Amazon, rising number of gamers and While mobile esports takes the center Flipkart, Red Bull, PepsiCo took viewers, several popular OTT stage, the collective trends in esports great interest in the industry and platforms initially took interest in in India is too undergoing a positive went on to develop and run several streaming esports tournaments. change. The number of professional IPs. NODWIN Gaming, the leading and Voot are one of the first gamers (earning money in esports company in India executed platforms to do so. 2020 is expected tournaments) has tremendously the Amazon GameOn Masters, one to have more than 8 broadcast surged from a mere 20,000 in 2018 of the biggest casual mobile games platforms which will include to 80,000 in 2019 and expected to tournament with a prize pool of ` 5 television, OTT services and live reach 500,000 by the end of 2020. Lacs in 2019. Likewise, the Red Bull streaming platforms. India's top India has over 700 million people River Runes and the Mountain Dew youth entertainment television under the age of 25 which also Arena is an yearly affair for the channel MTV airs 2 hours of esports happens to be the ideal age group company. The scale of the content every week. The peak (12-25) of regular gamers globally. competitions and the on-boarding viewership of esports matches is This trend in-turn affected one of the of big non-endemic brands together expected to reach millions this year vital numbers that is the number of resulted in massive prize rewards with names like SonyLIV, MX Player professional esports teams in the for the winners. The prize pools and Twitch to the addition. country. From 2000 professional and have witnessed more than 100% semi-professional teams in 2018, the YoY growth constantly since 2017. Additionally, the boom of esports gave a stronghold to various gaming divisions of popular PC hardware brands like OMEN HP, HyperX, ASUS ROG, Intel and Western Digital which are active sponsors for a number of esports tournaments and events.

All of that put together, 2020 looks like a healthy year for the gamers, organizers and associated brands alike. Going forward with the evolution of esports, the industry in India will penetrate the social structure and soon be a part of mainstream entertainment.

18 BIG GUNS STEADY THE INNINGS WHILE NEWCOMERS PLAY THEIR PART IN A SOLID TEAM EFFORT

2019 was a year At an overall level, Team Sponsorship delivering ` 630 Cr. ($ 90 Mn), the had a relatively muted growth in delta it gave in absolute terms, from in which football 2019 if we juxtapose it with the a business perspective, was higher previous years in which the numbers than all other sports put together. kept the ball rolling tended to come in double digits or at Team India’s 2019 schedule had an least close to it. The year saw a impact on cricket’s total value for the Sporting growth of around 6% y-o-y with total delivery and given the high value revenue of ` 934 Cr. ($ 133 Mn). To share for the , the Nation with a get a better picture of the growth cricketing calendar had its effect on Team Sponsorship drivers, it is important to take a the sponsorship value at an overall glance at how we performed in level too. In 2018, the Indian cricket revenue of ` 119 Cr. different sporting activities last year. team had played 50 matches in all, While growth was not emphatic in while 2019 saw them play six games ($ 17 Mn) India’s No. 1 sport, the role of lesser. Of the 44 games played by cricket-related revenues in the overall the national team across all three scheme of things cannot be formats, 10 were in the marquee ICC overemphasized because of its event; the ODI World Cup. In spite disproportionate contribution to the of this reduction in the number of base figure. The fact of the matter is matches played by Team India, there that while cricket grew by 4%, were a few high value deals that

19 Sporting Nation In The Making VII / Big guns steady the innings while newcomers play their part in a solid team e ort Two-third of overall Team Sponsorship revenue came from cricket, which had a year of marginal growth for itself in 2019. While the year saw fresh beginnings on the sponsorship front for the national team, it was the IPL that drove the gains for the sport with yet another robust performance. In football, however, incremental revenue was led by investments in European properties as the ISL saw a de-growth. As far as Franchise Fees are concerned, while there was no significant growth in the major events, it was heartening to see new leagues coming up and contributing to the sporting nation in the making.

higher growth percentage than India’s leading sport with incremental revenue of 8% over the previous year. This growth was delivered in spite of a 5% dip in ISL Team Sponsorship because 2019 saw Indian brands tapping into the global appeal of the game by associating more with European Club Football. As the English Premier League (EPL) gained momentum with the Indian football fan, we also saw an increasing propensity for brands to be part of the footballing spectacle. The impressive growth in football has been enabled by brands like Apollo Tyres, HCL, Gulf Oil and Kohler by virtue of their continued association with EPL giant Manchester United, giving a combined revenue of ` 60 Cr. ($ 8.6 Mn). Moving on to the sport that once represented our clout on the world stage, the Odisha Government continued to support Hockey India in a deal that covers the junior as well as senior teams for both men and women. Another notable partnership is the tie-up that makes Tata Motors the Principal Sponsor for Indian Wrestling, with a payout of ` 18 Cr. ($ 2.6 Mn) over three years. Contributing to the overall Team Sponsorship value were leagues which marked their inaugural edition in 2019, like the Indo International Premier Kabaddi League, Big Bout Boxing League, and X1 racing.

2018 had seen the overall Franchise Fee figure taking a dip and settling into a new normal with the IPL entering its second decade, owing to which the league’s Franchise Fee ceased to be valid any longer. While the overall value enabled India’s most popular sport for cricket did not see any change in the scoreboard in 2019, the same was to grow in Team Sponsorship. After the case with the other major leagues in the country too because of the steady the World Cup, we saw Byju’s state they had reached after a phase of scaling up in the previous years. The replacing Oppo as the Main Sponsor ISL continued to have 10 teams in 2019 also, while the PKL remained at 12 of our cricket team while Nike teams. Also remaining unchanged in terms of team composition were the Pro continued its association with BCCI. Wrestling League (PWL) with 6 teams, (PBL) with 9 The big thrust for the sport in 2019, teams and (UTT) with 6 teams, while the count of teams however, came from franchise remained at 6, , Puneri Paltans TT and TT debuted cricket. IPL, India’s leading sporting in 2019. league, continued to be leagues apart with a growth of 15% over the A deep dive into the Team Sponsorship statistics indicates that cricket plays a previous year, just when quick runs very important role while other sporting activities rally around it to give us the were the need of the year! flavor of the overall performance. While sponsorship value growth for the Indian Cricket Team was subdued because of scheduling reasons, the IPL fully You know that you are in India when justified its role as the money-spinner of Indian sports with yet another year of you find the world’s most popular impressive growth in Team Sponsorship. 2019 also saw Indian brands looking team sport playing second fiddle to beyond geographical barriers and investing in non-cricketing properties cricket. While cricket is the leader by outside the country, giving further thrust to the business of sports. The fact that a big margin in public interest as well new leagues have come to the party with corporate backing, is indicative of as business scalability, football gave the encouraging trend that the market is indeed bullish on sports in India.

20 TEAM SPONSORSHIP & FRANCHISE

TEAM SPONSORSHIP

2018 (` Cr.) 2018 ($ Mn) 2019 (` Cr.) 2019 ($ Mn)

Cricket 603 89 630 90

Football 109 16 118 17

Kabaddi 46 7 60 9

Other Sports 134 20 126 18

Total 892 131 934 133

FRANCHISE

2018 (` Cr.) 2018 ($ Mn) 2019 (` Cr.) 2019 ($ Mn)

Cricket 68 10 68 10

Other Sports 285 42 332 47

Total 353 52 400 57

Source – ESP Properties 2018 Conversion Rate 1$ = ` 68 2019 Conversion Rate 1$ = ` 70

• Team Sponsorship grew marginally by 6% • Franchise grew by 13% • Byju’s replaced Oppo as team India • No major change in Franchise Fee of the existing leagues Sponsor post ICC Criket World Cup • New Leagues Started in 2019 which increased the overall • IPL Team Sponsorship is growing Franchise Revenue - Indo International Premier Kabaddi steadily by 15% League, Big Bout Indian Boxing League and X1 Racing League

21 Sporting Nation In The Making VII / Big guns steady the innings while newcomers play their part in a solid team e ort FRANCHISE

Social Search TV Reach Ratings Conversations Volues Facebook Twitter Instagram IPL Franchise in 000’s in 000’s in 000’s in 000’s in 000’s in 000’s 3,69,269 3.8 3,900 7,411 12,000 5,300 3,900 Mumbai Indians 3,45,831 3.6 3,400 5,411 13,000 5,500 4,100 Royal Challengers Bangalore 3,36,939 3.3 2,900 10,486 9,200 3,600 3,300 3,42,850 3.4 1,400 1,467 16,000 4,200 1,400 3,34,959 3.1 1,100 1,204 5,900 2,200 1,300 Kings XI Punjab 2,96,351 3 1,000 897 8,500 2,000 1,100 Delhi Daredevils (Delhi Capitals) 3,47,612 3 636 1,627 5,300 1,500 1,100 Rajasthan Royals 2,99,741 2.7 465 1,086 4,100 1,200 817

Social Search TV Reach Ratings Conversations Volues Facebook Twitter Instagram PKL Franchise in 000’s in 000’s in 000’s in 000’s in 000’s in 000’s 1,48,868 1.2 47 2,952 680 595 213 U Mumba 1,47,343 1.1 61 1,988 1,000 133 180 1,44,997 1 32 397 771 130 121 1,66,876 1.2 63 3,612 999 163 209 1,50,703 1.1 21 1,620 516 148 81 1,56,235 1.1 45 1,980 280 58 139 1,67,895 1 20 1,086 385 29 106 1,55,519 1.1 37 1,620 712 81 103 1,51,917 1 30 888 904 113 116 K.C. 1,71,768 1.2 26 1,620 986 62 85 UP Yoddha 79,242 1 27 1,320 373 27 81 1,36,898 1 27 1,086 364 28 80

Social Search TV Reach Ratings Conversations Volues Facebook Twitter Instagram ISL Franchise in 000’s in 000’s in 000’s in 000’s in 000’s in 000’s Kerala Blasters FC 80,583 0.5 126 2,589 1,100 1,800 1,300 Bengaluru FC 59,574 0.3 159 594 341 266 184 Chennaiyin FC 57,156 0.3 158 594 464 865 225 ATK FC 79,958 0.4 35 15 1,000 468 183 FC 66,646 0.3 97 726 448 330 238 Hyderabad FC 65,521 0.3 27 145 16 5 32 Mumbai City FC 64,735 0.3 147 219 577 165 125 Odisha FC 63,268 0.3 33 145 14 4 18 North East United FC 59,165 0.3 33 325 332 425 153 Jamshedpur FC 61,928 0.3 45 217 106 19 100

Source – ESP Properties. Source for TVR & Reach – BARC, TG – 2+, ALL NCCS, All India *ISL data is till December 2019

• IPL is the Numero Uno – even at a franchise level • The average TV reach of an IPL franchise in 2019 was 2.3x that of its PKL counterpart and whopping 4.6x that of an ISL franchise! • While IPL franchises are a clear leader in all aspects on the Digital front; interestingly fans of ISL franchises seem to be outshout their PKL counterparts on social media by leaps and bounds… • The average social conversation around an ISL franchise is 2.3x that of a PKL franchise • Average search volumes of a PKL franchise was almost 3x that of an ISL franchise • Amongst the PKL family of franchise, UP Yoddhas seemed to have a subdued 2019! • The TV Reach of UP Yoddhas was less than that of ISL franchises – Bengaluru FC and FC Goa – making them the Black Sheep of the Kabaddi Family!

22 BRAND VIRAT LEADS THE CHARGE AS CRICKETERS STEP UP THE SCORING RATE

23 Sporting Nation In The Making VII / Brand Virat leads the arge as cricketers step up the scoring rate 2019 was a year in which the In the year of the ODI World Cup, we also saw domination of the endorsement overseas cricketers cashing in on the ubiquity of the industry by cricketers got even cricket fever in the country. more pronounced. The big names While fantasy sports platforms made their mark continued to attract big money this year, these businesses even as the emerging superstars of brought in well-known stalwarts of India’s biggest Team India made solid inroads by sport to accelerate their signing new brands. growth rates. While there was a drop in endorsement value from other sports, the big point to note here is that the non-cricketing space was dominated by women athletes.

24 One major trigger for cricket in 2019 Agarwal to mark his entry into the has been the advent of fantasy club of brand endorsers by signing leagues as a category. Dream11, the up with Ceat Tyres as well as lead player in this space, had Fast&Up, the Sports Nutrition brand. engaged 18 cricketers last year as part of their brand campaign With cricket enjoying such dizzying including their initiatives for the IPL levels of popularity, even foreign and the 50 over World Cup. However, cricketers are well known faces with they were not alone in the game; enough popularity to be able to competing for the engagement of market brands. For instance, we saw cricket fans was MyCircle11 with their Royal Stag sign up five overseas signing of . The other cricketers – Faf Du Plessis, Ben Stokes, celebrities who endorsed fantasy Andre Russell, Kane Williamson and Indian Cricket is a House of platforms last year were Virat Kolhi Mitchell Starc for their World Cup Brands and King Kohli is who supported MPL, Gautam campaign. Dream11, in addition to Gambhir who gave his backing to the Indian cricketers who were part of currently its strongest brand. CricPlay, Suresh Raina who batted for their celebrity line up, also brought in While the Indian skipper Fantain and who swung eight international players for the reached new heights as a his willow for Ballebaazi. World Cup campaign and two of batsman and a leader, them for their IPL activity. Among the Brand Virat dominated the M S Dhoni might have taken a break women cricketers, was on endorsement space by after the premier ODI tournament, top of the list of endorsers. crossing the ` 200 Cr. but he continues to be very popular ($ 28.5 Mn) mark by adding with the Indian cricket fans; 2019 While cricketers were hitting it out of the park, there was a de-growth of even more brands to saw the former Indian skipper add five new brands to his list. It has been 10% in the rest of sports. However, his scorecard. over six years since the Master there were a few shining stars on the Blaster played his distaff side who gave us moments to Sports endorsement grew 11% to 200th and last Test Match at the be proud of. Badminton Queen P V reach ` 456 Cr. ($ 65 Mn) in a year Wankhade Stadium, but he Sindhu became the first Indian to win that saw cricketers riding the wave of continues to be a huge draw as he the World Badminton Gold at Basel; popularity of their sport. Of the 70 crossed the ` 25 Cr. ($ 3.6 Mn) mark she was also the leading new brand deals signed by sports in 2019, making him the third most non-cricketing athlete last year in stars last year, 50 involved cricketers. popular athlete in terms of number terms of brand endorsements. While Endorsements from cricket players of brands endorsed. Sindhu added fours brands to her grew 16% in a year that saw India’s portfolio, the most notable one favorite sport contribute 85% to the Jasprit Bumrah grew in stature last among them was her tie-up with VISA total value across all sports. A closer year into one of the most feared that made her the first Indian athlete scrutiny of the numbers will make it bowlers in cricket; growing along to endorse the financial services evident that as much as 63% of total with his cricketing equity is his market brand. was another brand endorsement value across all value too; he added 9 new brands to prominent name in the list of brand sports, came from just two cricketing his portfolio taking his tally to 11. endorsers; while she brought glory for heroes, Virat Kohli and M S Dhoni. 2019 was a great year for Rohit India at international Boxing events, Of the 329 brand deals that Sharma who impressed one and all she also added four brands to her happened in 2019, 228 of them with his batting exploits; while the tally. Adding to their list of brands involved cricketers, implying that Hitman added more brands to his were Track & Field sensation Hima 69% of all deals involved players tally, also making gains by signing Das and Olympic Medalist Sakshi from one sport; this data, when up brands were his opening partner Malik too. Outside the world of contrasted with the higher value Shikhar Dhawan and all-rounder cricket, it was the women athletes who share of cricketer endorsements, Hardik Pandya. Every year, we find made a significant mark in 2019. clearly demonstrates the premium new stars who burst on to the scene; nature of those deals. in 2019 it was the turn of Mayank

25 Sporting Nation In The Making VII / Brand Virat leads the arge as cricketers step up the scoring rate If 2018 saw cricket related endorsements widening the lead over the rest of sports, last year witnessed a continuity of the same story with Team India having a great year. What the marketability of the high-performing non-cricketing stars show is that victories at the international level, especially at showpiece events like the Olympics, can make you a name to reckon with in the country, even if you play other sports. With Tokyo 2020 round the corner, we can expect more traction in endorsements outside cricket too.

26 ENDORSEMENT

2018 (` Cr.) 2018 ($ Mn) 2019 (` Cr.) 2019 ($ Mn)

Cricket 392 58 456 65

Other Sports 90 13 81 12

Total 482 71 537 77

Source – ESP Properties 2018 Conversion Rate 1$ = ` 68 2019 Conversion Rate 1$ = ` 70

• Endorsement industry grew by 11% • In 2019, 70 new brand endorsement deals had happened. 50 out of 70 endorsements were done by cricketers • 85% of Total Brand Endorsements have come from Cricketers • 63% of Total Brand Endorsements are from Virat Kohli & MS Dhoni • Total of 329 endorsement deal have happened, out of which 228 Brands signed up with Cricketers • Female athletes were the top performer in the non-cricket athlete space

27 Sporting Nation In The Making VII / Brand Virat leads the arge as cricketers step up the scoring rate ATHLETES

Social Search Category Conversations Volues Facebook Twitter Instagram Athletes in 000’s in 000’s in 000’s in 000’s in 000’s Virat Kohli Cricket 8,700 22,451 37,000 33,600 49,100 M S Dhoni Cricket 4,100 21,240 20,000 7,800 19,600 Rohit Sharma Cricket 4,500 14,820 10,000 15,800 12,200 Sachin Tendulkar Cricket 3,000 2,222 28,000 31,500 19,500 Hardik Pandya Cricket 1,300 8,076 3,800 4,600 10,000 Jasprit Bumrah Cricket 1,100 3,612 1,200 2,500 4,400 Shikhar Dhawan Cricket 992 3,612 8,900 4,500 5,500 Rishabh Pant Cricket 873 6,600 1,500 1,200 3,300 Mihtali Raj Cricket 106 1,620 754 715 1,300 Harmanpreet Kaur Cricket 67 486 294 290 481

Social Search Category Conversations Volues Facebook Twitter Instagram Athletes in 000’s in 000’s in 000’s in 000’s in 000’s P V Sindhu Badminton 787 1,980 1,300 2,800 1,600 Mary Kom Boxing 188 1,183 3,300 1,400 232 Badminton 316 1,620 7,700 8,400 1,400 Hima Das Athletics 667 1,980 312 324 260 Wrestling 35 726 542 445 152 Football 112 860 619 1,600 1,000 Wrestling 157 325 283 66 141 Neeraj Chopra Athletics 31 217 35 59 61 Badminton 36 97 92 1,100 134 Narain Karthikeyan Motorsports 8 79 NA 611 12

Source – ESP Properties.

• If Cricket dominated the Leagues and Franchises table, it’s a no-brainer that Virat Kohli topped the ranks in all aspects when it comes to individual athletes! • Rohit Sharma catching up with M. S. Dhoni in number of followers on social media • Female athletes creating maximum buzz on digital in non-cricketing sports - point to boast for female sports torchbearers

28 OVER-THE-TOP HITTING BY CRICKET ON MEDIA

Cricket continued to be the big money-spinner in the year of the ODI World Cup. While TV advertising grew at a fair clip, we saw the digital medium snowballing rapidly. With increasing number of sports enthusiasts gravitating towards online engagement, print medium loses further ground in the wake of changing consumer habits.

2019 saw sports-related advertising The World Cup was the high point in revenue touching ` 5232 Cr. ($ 747 a favorable calendar for the Indian Mn) with a growth rate of 18%, a cricket team from a media figure that is significantly better that perspective. The team had a long what general market trends would and highly successful home season indicate. Cricket, India’s most to conclude the year in which we influential sport, had a big role to played 51 matches in all. While Star play in this commercial success. The India was the big media player here, quadrennial Cricket World Cup is the Sony Pictures also played its part by most eagerly awaited sporting event bringing Team India’s tour to the for Indians. The 2019 edition of the Caribbean Islands to our homes. competition happened in England Add to it the biggest sporting and it saw the Indian team race to spectacle in the country, the IPL, and the semifinals at the top of the table; we have a power-packed schedule even though we missed out in the for players, fans, and businesses that knock out game, the tournament associate themselves with cricketing raised huge levels of excitement for properties. While the IPL was the cricket-crazy Indian fans. With another big-ticket item for the Star cricket enjoying such high levels of Network, the Indian cricket fans also public involvement, viewership had the option to see the franchise and attracting the attention of sports levels also tend to peak, making this leagues in other countries, as well as lovers. All these factors contributed flagship ICC event a keenly awaited the domestic T20 competitions in towards the healthy overall growth in opportunity for brands to connect different states, to add some variety 2019, which in percentage terms, with their target consumers. As a to the media menu. Cricket is a big was twice the number we saw in the result, we saw advertising revenue piece of the sports market in India; previous year. hitting hitherto unseen numbers with the picture gets completed when we the Star Sports Network, who had add it to attractive events from other Over 80% of all ad spends were on the broadcasting rights for the sports disciplines. While the ISL, PKL TV; the figure being ` 4272 Cr. ($ 610 event. The round-robin league and other sporting leagues were held Mn) which came at an increment of format of the 10-team event was successfully last year, it was pleasing 13% over 2018. However, the big also a contributing factor to this to see many Indian athletes in story in media skew was the digital advertising success; there were 45 different sporting events outside of boom we witnessed. The total value league games, with nine of them cricket, making the nation proud with of digital media spends was ` 875 Cr. featuring India. their exploits at international events ($ 125 Mn); the growth being at a

29 Sporting Nation In The Making VII / Over-The-Top hitting by cricket on media highly impressive 84%. In last year’s edition, we had mentioned that the sporting nation is just warming up to the OTT (Over-The-Top) revolution and that it is just a matter of time before it gains critical mass to rake in significant ad revenue. In fact, 2019 saw the words coming true with the huge momentum we are seeing in the direction of digital migration. With smartphones getting more affordable and mobile networks giving better coverage, conversion to OTT is happening fast in this young nation. Hotstar did the live streaming for the IPL as well as the World Cup, and hence it is no surprise that it became the main contributor to the whopping digital growth. To illustrate the extent of the swing, the increase in Hotstar watch-time in IPL 2019 over the previous edition was as high as 74%.

30 With digital media getting Ad revenue on TV has been gaining increasingly attractive and with TV consistently over a period of time, continuing to provide reach and delivering 1.8x growth over the last scale to brands, the numbers in print three years. In 2019, it delivered continue to plummet. Print media incremental revenue of ` 493 Cr. delivered ` 85 Cr. ($ 12 Mn) in ($ Mn 70). In comparison, if we look 2019; which was less than half the at the digital medium, the delta over number from the year before, with a 2018 is ` 400 Cr. ($ 57 Mn), which de-growth of 52%. Three years back, is not far from the number delivered in 2016, print media in sports had by TV; this is something that more than thrice the scale of digital. happened for the first time, and is Such is the speed at which media mix indicative of things to come too. The changes, that digital overtook print in digital surge is here to stay and the 2018, and in 2019, it became more Indian sports fan is on the lookout than ten times the size of the more for new experiences. TV, however, is traditional media form, as far as ad the largest medium and continues to revenues are concerned. Engaging be the preferred choice for the digitally connected user is high-impact campaigns to deliver important and OTT media can the targeted reach and other leverage technology well to give an performance indices in the most interactive experience that elevates efficient manner. With many high the interest level. In addition to profile events in the 2020 sporting platforms like Hotstar and SonyLiv, calendar, like the Tokyo Olympics 2019 also saw a host of fantasy and the ICC T20 World Cup, it is sports apps gaining significant levels exciting times ahead on Indian of traction. sports media.

31 Sporting Nation In The Making VII / Over-The-Top hitting by cricket on media MEDIA SPENDS

2018 (` Cr.) 2018 ($ Mn) 2019 (` Cr.) 2019 ($ Mn)

TV 3779 556 4272 610

Print 178 26 85 12

Digital 475 70 875 125

Total 4432 652 5232 747

Source – ESP Properties 2018 Conversion Rate 1$ = ` 68 2019 Conversion Rate 1$ = ` 70

• Media Spends on Sports grew by 18% • Overall Growth has come due to both IPL & ICC ODI World Cup • TV & Digital led overall growth in Sports AdEx • Print declined by more than 50% • Digital has grown by whopping 84%. Hotstar is the major contributor

32 2020 VISION FOR A YEAR OF OLYMPIC PROPORTIONS

2019 was a year of emphatic growth for the Sports Sponsorship industry in India. With an overall increment of 17% over the previous year, it was a resounding performance as we came to the end of a decade of upswing. If we take a long-term view of the growth curve, the numbers indicate a healthy CAGR that came out of the pace at which sports evolved into a strong platform for businesses and brands to establish a relationship with their customers.

33 Sporting Nation In The Making VII / 2020 Vision for a year of Olympic Proportions 2020 promises to be a win-win amalgamation of cricket another exciting year for and showbiz. The cult of IPL grew sports lovers in India. over the years, with fans clearly Tokyo Olympics is just a identifying with the respective franchises from their cities. However, few months away and there is a bigger influence of the IPL, there is a lot for India to one that goes beyond cricket. look forward to. There was a time when the hockey The franchise-based league format team dribbled with all the made popular by the IPL, is getting weight of expectation of embraced by other sports as well. an Olympic medal for the The ISL was launched in 2014 with many big names in world football nation, at a point in time playing for the teams, creating a when individual medals wave of excitement for the fans. As were few and far in the new football league grew in between. With Abhinav prominence, there was a phase of Bindra, P V Sindhu, Sushil confused identity with the I League, Kumar and other Olympic which has now been addressed with medalists inspiring us with the governing bodies of football their wins at the coming up with a roadmap that will quadrennial event, we are make ISL the premier league in India. now a nation that believes Kabaddi is another sport that had leveraged the franchise format well; that Olympic medals are with the PKL leading the raids into within reach. our televisions and handheld devices. 2019 saw a rival body unveil If we go back in time to dwell upon a new league, the IIPKL, a the triggers behind the surge, cricket competition that could co-exist with has been a big game in India for the trailblazing PKL, giving decades now; it has given us popular opportunities to more players and heroes and household names that we possibly enabling a better spread for look up to and admire. We had won Kabaddi action across the year. the World Cup way back in 1983, While all sporting leagues haven’t and even hosted one four years later. really enjoyed unabated success, we Today, if cricket is the subject, then also saw new leagues making their without doubt we can say that the debut in 2019, with more ideas in the sub-continent is the epicentre. The pipeline for niche sports. game has seen may growth phases since the advent of the limited over With the success enjoyed by the format in the 70s with night cricket shooting team in 2019 and with a and coloured clothing, multi-nation good representation from the sport at tournaments, and more recently, T20 Tokyo 2020, hopes of podium finishes cricket with franchise leagues coming are high. India will participate in into play. The IPL was launched in Hockey, Athletics, Archery, Badminton, 2008 in India; it paved the way for a Wrestling and other sports, leading whole new order of the day in India’s to more excitement from a nation favorite sport with the involvement of that loves its sporting heroes. Success corporate houses, the glitz and at the Olympics raises the visibility for glamour, the brands that plan their the concerned sport in India, and annual media plans around this could inspire the youth of the nation cricketing spectacle, the teams, and to take it up. 2020 being the year of of course, the fans whose attention the Summer Olympics, we could see everyone is vying for. In short, IPL is new stars outside of cricket coming where sports in India turned out to be on the horizon.

0834 2020 is the year of the T20 World Cup and it will be a perfect opportunity for us to bring home the ICC Trophy that has been eluding us for some time. Anticipation levels for the event are high and as we get closer to the date, it will get even higher. The tournament will be a great media opportunity for brands, as viewership figures will hit a peak. The last time we won this tournament was in 2007 when its inaugural edition was played.

35 Sporting Nation In The Making VII / 2020 Vision for a year of Olympic Proportions Talking of cricket, the year 2020 is In fact, the 2007 victory looks as if it some really big names in world very important for Team India. The goes back a very long way especially cricket playing for them in the past. 50 over World Cup that happened in if you consider the fact that the IPL The Bengaluru franchise will be keen 2019 ended on a disappointing note wasn't even launched then. World to change all that this year with a with our men in blue losing out to the Cups and Olympics are not annual maiden title triumph. With the Black Caps in a knockout fixture after events, but since its inception in impressive list of Central Sponsors looking very convincing in the league 2008, this franchise-based cricket and Team Sponsors at this games. We are enjoying a lot of league has over the years become a money-spinner of Indian cricket, we success in bilateral series especially high point in the annual sports are in for a special treat this year at home; in spite of this, we have calendar in India. The MI team led also. Brands will be vying to been faltering of late at the business by Rohit Sharma will be defending leverage their presence on TV, digital end of ICC events. There has been a the title they won dramatically last and other forms of media while the drought in big trophies after the year while the former Indian skipper fans will be rooting for their Champions Trophy in 2013 and M S Dhoni is expected to be back in respective teams. All these factors when we play in these marquee action for the first time since the ODI point to yet another spectacular events, nothing short of a title win will World Cup. Virat Kohi’s RCB is still to season of cricket, glitz and business be satisfying for the fans. win the IPL even though they had at IPL 2020.

36 We are in the midst of a digital revolution and in the past few years we have been seeing a spike in ad spends on digital media. 2019 saw a huge increase here with Hotstar leading the OTT surge in sports viewership. While TV continues to grow as the biggest medium for ad spends, brands are also having a clear digital plan along with presence on TV to build a rapport with their consumers by reaching out to them in more ways than one. Engagement and interactivity are important elements of consumer marketing, and digital technology can be leveraged well to give differentiated solutions to sports lovers. 2019 also saw fantasy sports applications growing fast and this traction will be carried forward into 2020 also with new experiences for the Indian sports fan. Online platforms, still in the phase of investing for growth, are looking at cricket and other sports because of the wide reach these events give them.

The Central Government has announced flagship programmes aimed at excelling at high level events like the Olympics, and also to encourage children to take up sports. With corporates and sporting icons in India also contributing their bit towards this cause, signs are encouraging in this regard. Sports Industry has been growing well in the past few years, so much so that in the span of four years from World Cup to World Cup, or Olympics to Olympics, we are seeing significant upward shift in overall spend levels. With a list of high-profile events lined up in 2020, we can look forward to a resounding start to another decade of sporting excellence.

37 Sporting Nation In The Making VII / 2020 Vision for a year of Olympic Proportions YOY DATA

Year 2008 in 2009 in 2010 in 2011 in 2012 in 2013 in 2014 in 2015 in 2016 in 2017 in 2018 in 2019 in ` Cr. ` Cr. ` Cr. ` Cr. ` Cr. ` Cr. ` Cr. ` Cr. ` Cr. ` Cr. ` Cr. ` Cr. Overall 2423 2726 4037 5314 4405 4381 4617 5363 6400 7300 7762 9109 % Growth 13% 48% 32% -17% -1% 9% 16% 19% 14% 6% 17%

On Ground 426 420 1043 705 712 759 795 1030 1166 1337 1603 2006 % Growth -2% 150% -30% 1% 6% 5% 30% 13% 15% 20% 25%

Team Sponsorship 437 445 456 724 669 465 494 558 700 820 892 934 % Growth 2% 3% 60% -8% -30% 6% 13% 25% 17% 9% 5%

Franchise Fee 284 284 284 618 481 527 482 541 548 684 353 400 % Growth 0% 0% 117% -22% 10% -8% 12% 1% 25% -48% 13%

Endorsement 126 127 254 267 293 382 328 416 476 395 482 537 % Growth 1% 100% 5% 10% 30% -14% 27% 14% -17% 22% 11%

Media Spends 1150 1450 2000 3000 2250 2250 2518 2817 3511 4065 4432 5232 % Growth 26% 38% 50% -25% 0% 12% 12% 25% 16% 9% 18%

Year 2008 in 2009 in 2010 in 2011 in 2012 in 2013 in 2014in 2015 in 2016 in 2017 in 2018 in 2019 in $ Mil $ Mil $ Mil $ Mil $ Mil $ Mil $ Mil $ Mil $ Mil $ Mil $ Mil $ Mil

` - $ Conversion 43 48 46 47 53 59 61 65 68 66 68 Rate

Overall 564 568 878 1131 831 743 757 825 941 1106 1141 1301

On Ground 99 88 227 150 134 128 130 159 171 203 236 287

Team Sponsorship 102 93 99 154 126 79 81 86 103 124 131 133

Franchise Fee 66 59 62 131 91 89 79 83 81 104 52 57

Endorsement 29 26 55 57 55 65 54 64 70 60 71 77

Media Spends 267 302 435 638 425 381 413 433 516 616 652 747

Source – ESP Properties

38 GroupM India is a data-centric, digitally charged marketing services conglomerate. With our six agencies including Wavemaker, Mindshare, MediaCom, Motivator, Essence, mSix, and specialty services, GroupM India gives clients the advantage of global operation and learnings, along with local expertise and market insight. With our investment in data, technology and diverse talent, GroupM India aims to shape the future and transform challenges into opportunities for our clients.

Discover more about GroupM at www.groupm.com. Follow @GroupMIndia on Twitter Follow GroupM on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/groupm About ESP Properties is a new type of sports and ESP Properties entertainment marketing agency, dedicated to helping rightsholders take advantage of digital and data driven changes in the media landscape. It is part of WPP’s GroupM. ESP Properties is dedicated to helping properties better understand their audiences, develop more relevant ways to engage with them, and provide potential brand partners more valuable ways to connect with their communities of fans.

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Narrative By Vishnu Govind Founder, Add Valorem Consulting march 2020