The Indian sports industry continued its upward surge as it registered an 11% yearly growth, as per GroupM ESP Sporting Nation Report 2024.
The report revealed that the Indian sports industry is worth Rs. 15,766 crore, which is nearly four times what it was worth 10 years ago.
“Today, India is the fifth largest economy in the world. In sports too, we have come a long way. Recent years have seen many landmark wins from our athletes which would have seemed improbable, if not impossible, a decade ago,” said Vinit Karnik, the head of the Sports, Esports and Entertainment departments in GroupM.
“An Indian has won an individual Olympic Gold in track and field, our shuttlers have clinched the prestigious Thomas Cup, and we have crossed the threshold of 100 medals at the Asian Games, the nation hosts a sports league with the second-highest per-match broadcast value in the world - all these and more are such sterling accomplishments have highlighted the new elevated status we now have in sports,” he added.
While the on-ground revenue only rose marginally (6%), the biggest spike in the industry came from franchise fees, which jumped 60% (from Rs. 1644 crore to Rs. 2628 crore) in 2023. This is in addition to steady intake from key elements like endorsements and key sponsorships, which recorded 24% and 22% growth rates respectively.
The biggest drop-off though came in the advertisement on media platforms (Media Spends), which was the only element in the sports industry, as per the GroupM ESP report, which recorded negative growth.
Media Spends, which was recording impressive improvements over the last two years after a pandemic-induced decline, witnessed a 1% drop in 2023.
Among the media industry, it was the broadcast platform that witnessed the sharpest drop in numbers. From an advertisement revenue of Rs. 5506 crore in 2022, the TV sector shot down to Rs. 4620 crore, a 16% reduction in numbers.
TV’s decline though turned out to be beneficial for the digital sector, which recorded an incredible 40% growth, jumping from Rs. 2045 crore of advertisement revenue in 2022 to Rs. 2870 crore in 2023.
The introduction of free Indian Premier League (IPL) live streaming on JioCinema was one of the major factors for the upswing in the numbers for digital media. Reliance Industries Ltd’s media & entertainment, the holding company of JioCinema, made Rs. 3,239 crore from advertisements during April-June 2023, as per its quarterly report. This is a sharp rise from the numbers it made in the same quarter in 2022 (Rs 1,340 crore)
Meanwhile, print media managed to double its advertisement revenue, from Rs. two crore in 2022 to Rs. four crore in 2023.
Cricket continued to be the top contributing sport when it comes to media advertisements, with the sport maintaining its 94% share in the segment, while all the other sports managed to cobble up the other 6%.
This is in line with cricket’s dominance in the overall Indian sports industry, with the sport expanding its market share from 85% in 2022 to 87% in 2023.
Cricket’s growth in 2023 was shouldered by the IPL and the ODI World Cup, which was hosted by India, with the sport tallying a 13% market growth in 2023.
With an 87% share, cricketers also dominated the endorsement numbers in the Indian sports market. In 2023, Indian cricket stars garnered Rs. 810 crore, a jump from Rs. 640 crore they pocketed in 2022.
Though they don’t come close to the cricketers, Indian athletes from other disciplines managed to register an improved aggregate remuneration from endorsements.
The non-cricket stars saw their endorsement earnings swell by 7% – from Rs.109 crore in 2022 to Rs.117 crore in 2023.
GroupM ESP also revealed that the cricketers dominated the social media space, with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma leading the pack. Among women cricketers, Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues were the most popular on social media platforms.
Wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, who led a widely popular protest against the Wrestling Federation of India, were the most popular non-cricketers on social media in 2023.
Asian Games gold medallist Neeraj Chopra continued to hold a significant social media spotlight, while tennis star Sania Mirza too got a slice of the internet’s attention courtesy of her retirement announcement.
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