sporting nation in the making-iii -...
TRANSCRIPT
SPORTING NATIONIN THE MAKING-III
ESP Properties - SportzPowerIndia Sports Sponsorship Report 2016
©GroupM Media India Private Limited and Sportz Network Private Limited
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The future of sport in India is fast changing and this has major implications for those organizations wishing to use it as a communication medium. On one hand, taking cues from Big Brother Cricket, sports teams and federations are beginning to understand how to market themselves and what corporate sponsors are seeking from them. On the other hand, there is still a long, long way to go before the sports industry as a whole reaches the level of maturity seen in more evolved markets.
The use of sport in corporate and brand development in India continues to grow steadily. In 2015, Sport accounted for 10.4% of total media spending at `51854 million / $798 million, rising 12.3% from `46165 million / $709 million in the previous calendar.
The third edition of a landmark collaboration between ESP Properties (the Entertainment & Sports arm of GroupM) and SportzPower (India’s leading provider of sports business news) to excavate and present the trends and developments in the Indian Sports Industry from a Sponsorship outlook provides a good perch from which multiple insights have been garnered into the evolution of this dynamic sector.
During this period, we’ve seen more change in the landscape of Indian Sports with the successful launch of the Pro Wrestling League adding to the mix as Pro Kabbadi League (PKL) and Indian Super League (ISL) in particular deepened their engagement with Indian fans.
This report covers the size of sports industry of India in 4 parts — On Ground Sponsorship, Team Sponsorship & Franchise Fee, Athlete Management, and On Air. Each chapter also covers key trends on investment in order to provide a perspective. The report also captures the digital data (social conversations & search) in each of the leagues (IPL, ISL, PKL, PWL, HIL, IPTL) in order to increase its utility to Rights Owners, Advertisers, and Agencies
We gratefully acknowledge the valuable inputs provided by rights owners, agencies, and industry participants who have provided valuable information and support during the preparation of this report.
We hope that you will find this report useful and informative. Any feedback or suggestions to enhance future editions of this report are most welcome.
FOREWORD
Vinit KarnikBusiness Head - ESP Properties
Thomas AbrahamCo-Founder, SportzPower
SPORTS INDUSTRY IN INDIA -
A lot happened through 2015 in the Sporting firmament, both in India and further afield. Much of it Good; some of it Bad; and a bit of it downright Ugly. In the balance however, Sport came out on the Plus side in the year under review – Cleaner; Stronger; Wealthier.
It was a year that saw the world’s most powerful global sporting body – FIFA – and the world’s most powerful national sporting body – BCCI – brought to heel. Both have been taken, kicking and screaming, to the cleaners. In the case of FIFA, it has a new leader in place in Gianni Infantino and has announced a set of reform measures that bode well for the Beautiful Game going forward. As for the BCCI, its clean-up is by no means over. But keeping in mind that both bodies remain in rude financial health, their respective stakeholders will be the better for it at the end of it all.
BCCI’s governance issues aside, Cricket swung back in a big way in 2015. The IPL – cricket’s “bellwether stock” – shrugged off the lows of 2014 and roared back, both ratings and revenue wise. India’s Money League mopped up `8000 million / $123 million net in ad sales for the Sony Network.
It was also an ICC World Cup year. But the unfavorable timings of the Australia-New Zealand co-hosted mega event, added to India’s going out in the semis, meant host broadcaster Star Sports could not go beyond ̀ 5000 million / $76.92 million net on-air ad sales revenues. Looked at in another way though, the World Cup saw Innovations such as feeds in regional languages, the first global telecast of cricket in 4K and drone cameras above the stadiums, none
THE PICTUREIS BRIGHT
of which came cheap. Production costs alone were reportedly in the region of `1700 million / $26.2 million. And Star is clearly setting the bar in shaping how sports programming will be delivered in the country, going forward.
It was also the year when the last rites were performed on the Champions League Twenty20. BCCI’s decision to finally jettison the CLT20 not only removed a deadweight from the Star Sports’ cricket property line-up, but also closed the chapter on a tournament that from Day One had failed to draw the interest of fans, both on-ground and on-air.
It was a good year for the country’s Number 2 game as well. At least on one level, though not so on another. The IMG-Reliance-Star co-owned Indian Super League witnessed a significant improvement in the quality of football on show, as well as a big upswing in stadium attendances.
Not so good was the news from the I-League, which ended the season with exit announcements from Pune FC and Bharat FC, the direct-entry side from the previous season; lack of a “long-term vision" for the league was cited as the reason. Soon after, Royal Wahingdoh, another debutant club from the previous season, joined the quit league movement. So an 11-team top tier club league that started its season in a sorry state to begin with, has been reduced to a 9-team league in the 2016 edition of the tournament. This is NOT what any country’s top tier club league should look like, let alone one the size of India.
Which is why one recurring motif that kept coming up was a future where the ISL and the I-League were merged. When and how it will happen remains a matter for speculation but it could well happen as early as 2017.
2017 is also when the FIFA Under-17 World Cup comes to India, preparations for the staging of which requires the upgrade of stadia in the six shortlisted host cities of Delhi, Kolkata, Guwahati, Mumbai, Goa and Kochi. The world class infrastructure is the legacy that will be handed over to the ISL teams from those respective cities when the mega event is done and dusted.
It was the year when there was a cleaning out in Kabaddi. The assumption made in the 2015 Report that two leagues – Pro Kabaddi League and World Kabaddi League – as they promoted two formats of the ancient Indian sport – square style and circle style – could both potentially find their respective areas of influence and fan support, without necessarily cannibalizing each other, proved overly optimistic. There was just not enough sponsor support for WKL so no 2015 edition either.
It was a completely different story for PKL. It was a big hit in 2014 and got even bigger in 2015. So much so that principal owner Star (it took a controlling 74% stake in the league’s promoter company Mashal Sports at the beginning of the year), announced that the league would be a biannual event from 2016 on.
And what of Tennis? Both of the new leagues that debuted in 2014 – the International Premier Tennis League, promoted by tennis doubles ace Mahesh Bhupathi and The Champions Tennis League, headed by former Indian great Vijay Amritraj – delivered their second editions. And are expected to be back for their third editions in 2016 as well.
On Hockey, Indian hockey fans got some respite from the one time national game's ongoing troubles when Hockey India League announced its three new franchises for HIL season three, which was held from 22 January to 22 February 2015.
HIL first announced a new Pune based franchise owned by Anirban Sarkar, chairman and managing director of Deccan Water Treatment Private Limited. This was followed up by the announcement that the troubled Sahara India, whose chief Subroto Roy completed a year in jail in February 2015, and which already owns the Uttar Pradesh Wizards side in the league, was the new owner of the Ranchi franchise. What gave the newly titled Ranchi Rays some much needed uplift was the news that MS Dhoni, earlier announced as a co-owner of ISL's Chennaiyin FC team, would be a franchise co-owner.
As for the Mumbai team, Radha Kapoor's (daughter of Yes Bank promoter Rana Kapoor) DoIT Sports Management, which marked its foray into sports with the ownership of the Dabang Delhi franchise of the Pro Kabaddi League, replaced Dabur's Mohit Burman as owner of the retitled Dabang Mumbai.
Speaking of Burman, who is one among four equal part stakeholders in IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab, he has lost his appetite for investing in sports leagues after burning his fingers in HIL as well as the Indian Badminton League, which went AWOL for two years after its inaugural edition in 2013. In 2015 however, the Badminton Association of India got its act together, first by terminating the contract of its commercial partner Sporty Solutionz in IBL and taking over its running. Subsequently, the league returned under a new name in 2016 as the Premier Badminton League for its second season, which ran from 2–17 January.
However, 2015 did not end without a new league tale to tell. And it came out "of left field" at the fag end of the year in the form of Pro Wrestling League (PWL). Conceived and put together by sports management agency ProSportify, PWL suffered technical glitches galore, poorly managed ticket sales, and the like; but it still came out a winner as the fans took to it big time.
Played from December 10 to December 27, PWL sustained its launch ratings to finish its inaugural season as the second most viewed non-cricket tournament after the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi League.
For broadcast rights holder Sony Pictures Networks, PWL proved a long shot that hit pay dirt from the get go. As for ProSportify, it has a full year to cover its bases and ensure that the second season is properly mounted.
All of this forms the preamble for the third edition of the ESP Properties India-SportzPower Sports Sponsorship Report. The Report examines advertising investments in Indian Sport in the calendar year 2015 from four angles – On Ground, Team Sponsorship& Franchise Fee, Athlete Endorsement, and On Air – and reveals that overall growth in the industry was a robust 12.3%, significantly higher than the 9% shown in 2014 and comparing well to the 14.2% growth in overall ad spends the Media Sector as a whole registered in the year.
Overall Sports Sponsorship grew from `46165 million / $709 million in 2014 to `51854 million / $ 798 million in the year under review. With ad spending in India touching `497580 million / $7656 million in 2015, Sports Sponsorship therefore makes up 10.4% of the overall advertising pie.It also bears noting that the Sports Industry Data provided in this report DOES NOT include: Gate Receipts | Players Fee / Salary | Prize Money | Merchandising | Subscription | Sports Goods | Operational Costs
Sports Data S.No. Component 2014 (` Mn) 2014 ($ Mn) 2015 (` Mn) 2015 ($ Mn)
1 Ground Sponsorship
2 Team Sponsorship
3 Franchise
4 Endorsement
5 On Air
7948
4936
4823
3278
25180
46165
122
76
74
50
387
709
10305
5582
4903
4164
26900
51854
159
86
75
64
414
798Total Industry Size
Source - ESP Properties Conversion rate $1 = `65
Sports industry grew by 12.3%
On Air contributed only 30% of the growth
If Cricket defines the money trail in Indian Sport, then in a year when the Champions League Twenty 20 was discontinued and there was no Asia Cup (it is a biennial event), On Ground Sponsorship growing a hefty 30% is a big deal! From `7948 million / $122 million in 2014 to `10305 million / $159 million in 2015, those were big numbers.
That all of this was achieved despite the uncertainties around Indian Sport’s safest bet – the IPL – and the fact the ICC’s blue riband event – the World Cup – was hosted in an India unfriendly time zone of Australia-New Zealand proves without a shadow of doubt that Sport was on the up and up in 2015.
Proof of the pudding as it were was provided when PepsiCo announced it was walking away from its title sponsorship of the IPL three years into its five-year agreement with the BCCI. Many a media pundit predicted a 30% drop in title rights value was on the cards. That never happened and Chinese mobile handset company Vivo picked up where Pepsi left off at the same rate for the remaining two years that was left on the contract.
Why does the deal make sense for Vivo when it never did for Pepsi? No rocket science here. Pepsi is a heritage brand that needs no introduction. So an annual marketing spend upwards of `1500 million / $23 million on one sporting property just could not do it for the beverages giant.
Not so the case with the upstart Chinese mobile firm. There is no better vehicle to deliver big bang awareness in the Indian market than the IPL. The strategy team that worked on the IPL deal have made clear to SportzPower that they are not looking beyond the two years this title rights contract has to run. The thinking is that in two years, the IPL connection will have made Vivo a household name and will have fully justified the big spends involved.
For the record, PepsiCo took over as IPL title sponsor from DLF in 2013 after a ₹3968 million / $ 61 million bid for a five-year period ending 2017. This was nearly double what DLF paid to become title sponsors of the tournament from 2008 till 2012.
Returning to the Ground Sponsorship scenario big picture. As already stated, and which bears reiterating, it was a year that saw Cricket get back its mojo. And the Supreme Court ordered clean-up of the BCCI did not dampen Cricket’s strike back in any real sense. While there was much media chatter through the year about how cricket’s brand image had suffered, particularly as far as the BCCI's cash cow IPL was concerned, what with the controversies surrounding betting and spot-fixing remaining a constant sore point, India’s Big Daddy sport grew 13.9% in 2015 to `5295 million / $81 million from `4647 million / $71 million in the previous year.
VIEW FROM THE GROUND IS GOOD
The IPL franchises benefited as well, what with sponsorship revenues being up anywhere between 15 to 30% from 2014, depending on the franchise.
But the key drivers for Cricket’s upside came from: India played 12 matches at home in 2015 vis-à-vis 8
matches in 2014 One97 Communications, owners of mobile pay wallet
Paytm, acquired Title Sponsorship rights for India's domestic and international cricket matches at home for a period of four years with a bid price of `2032 million / $31.26 million or `24.2 million / $0.37 million per match in 2015 vis-à-vis Micromax, which used to pay `20.2 million / $0.31 million per match in 2014
Ceat Tyres signed up as Strategic Time Out Partner of IPL in 2015 at `120 million / $1.85 million per year. This is in addition to Pepsi (Title), Vodafone, YES Bank & Star Sports (Associate) and McDowell's (Umpire)
MRF signed up as Global Partner of ICC 2015 World Cup at around `450 million / $6.92 million in addition to Pepsi, LG Electronics, Reliance Mobile (Global Partners), Hyundai, Castrol, Moneygram & Reebok (Official Partners)
Coming to Football, the second season of the Indian Super League saw higher average attendance in stadiums than 2014. Even the quality of play was better and there was heightened buzz around the league on social media.
In terms of spectators at match venues, the tournament saw 78% stadium fill compared to 72% in 2014. In total, 1,652,48 people attended the 61 matches that made up the ISL tournament, with per game attendance an impressive 27,090.
ISL had 18 sponsors at the Central level in 2015 (up from 10 in 2014) that collectively contributed `1000 million+ / $15.38 million as sponsorship amount, of which title sponsor Hero Moto Corp is paying `180 million / $2.77 million per year.
The sponsor roster reads as follows: Hero (Title), Maruti, Samsung, Flipkart (Associate), Amul, Pepsi, Volini, Imperial Blue, DHL, Manyavar, Hewlett Packard, Nicotex, Puma, Servo, Pond’s Men, Nissin (Official Partners) and Muthoot (Referee).
On the back of ISL, ground sponsorship for Football telescoped from `595 million / $9.15 million in 2014 to `1140 million / $17.54 million in 2015, a jump of 91.6%.
Among other sports, Distance Running as a lifestyle activity continues its upward trajectory with Marathons showing a solid 53.3% year-on-year revenue increase from `450 million / $6.92 million to `690 million / $10.62 million.
The two franchise based leagues Tennis served up in 2014 – the International Premier Tennis League, promoted by tennis doubles ace Mahesh Bhupathi and the Champions Tennis League, headed by former Indian great Vijay Amritraj – returned on schedule but
interestingly, it was the less glamorous CTL that showed slow but steady gains in 2015. CTL added Kotak Mahindra Bank (Powered By), Allen Solly (Associate), Gatorade & Grey Goose (Partners). Continuing from 2014 were Aircel (Powered By) and Wilson (Kit Partner).
However, even as the economics of IPTL in particular remains a fuzzy area, Bhupathi did manage to add Japan into his country franchise owner model making it a five-team league.
IPTL title sponsor Coca-Cola, which took title rights for a reported `200 million / $3.08 million in 2014, reworked its agreement, becoming a 10% stakeholder in 2015.
All of this contributed to the `470 million / $7.23 million that came into Tennis in 2015, a 32% rise over the `356 million / $5.48 million that was generated in 2014.
If Tennis had a happy tale to tell despite challenges, Kabaddi was floating, literally, on Cloud 9 in 2015. Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) that is. World Kabaddi League (WKL) went AWOL and in all likelihood will not return. PKL’s team owners like Kishore Biyani of Future Group, Hindi film A lister Abhishek Bachchan, steel major Mukund Group's Rajesh Shah, Uday Kotak of Kotak Mahindra, and UTV founder Ronnie Screwvala's Unilazer Sports, are laughing all the way to the bank. It bears noting that PKL pays the lowest average salaries of all the franchise based leagues (they really need to look into this aspect now that they have hit pay dirt) currently operating in this market. And with each team only having to shell out somewhere between `40-50 million / $0.62-0.77 million annually, including a nominal franchise fee, the economic dynamics at play couldn’t be better for the owners.
The numbers speak for themselves. PKL revenue touched `480 million / $7.38 million in 2015, up from `120 million / $1.85 million in the inaugural season, a massive 300% rise YOY. That too without a Title sponsor as the league’s principal owner Star India refused to budge on its asking price of `200 million /$3.07 million. The money came from 9 Central Sponsors – TVS Motors, Bajaj Electricals, VIP Frenchie, Flipkart, Dept. of Atomic Energy (Associate Sponsors), State Bank of India, Thums Up, Mahindra Jeeto, (Official Partner) and Britannia (Referee Partner).
The other big story point of 2015 was of course Pro Wrestling League. PWL touched `100 million / $1.54 million with 4 central sponsors – Dabur Chyawanprash (Title), Thums Up (Powered By), Jaquar (Associate) & Shiv Naresh (Brand Partner). PWL proved a hit in 2015, so expect promoters ProSportify to really go for it in 2016.
PWL and Hockey India League both contributed to driving On Ground Sponsorship from Other Sports in 2015 to a healthy `2230 million / $34 million, up from `1780 million / $27 million in 2014.
Expect 2016 to only get bigger, not just on the back of growth from the leagues that are now up and running, but also from new kids on the block that are debuting in the year, especially from the reappearance of the Shuttle Sport in the form of Premier Badminton League after a two-year no show.
On Ground SponsorshipS. No. Component 2014 (` Mn) 2014 ($ Mn) 2015 (` Mn) 2015 ($ Mn)
1 Cricket 4647 71 5295 81
2 Football 595 9 1140 18
3 Marathon 450 7 690 11
4 Tennis 356 5 470 7
5 Kabbadi 120 2 480 7
6 Other Sports 1780 27 2230 34
7948 121 10305 158
Social & Search Data - Sports Weeks
Social Search
863500 4021016 16165562
234000 184351 2781593
3000 45936 589336
7050 12433 2207451
12100 38162 417661
IPL
ISL
PKL
HIL
IPTL
PWL
1370180
305112
31350
11765
34099
84690 590 2933 16052
Social
Search
0
2000000
4000000
6000000
8000000
10000000
12000000
14000000
16000000
18000000
IPL
ISL
PKL
HIL
IPTL
PWL
Source - ESP Properties Conversion rate $1 = `65
Source - GroupM
IPL is the most talked about league followed by ISL
Although PWL is lowest in terms of Facebook & Twitter following, its 3rd highest in terms of engagement (more conversation than PKL, HIL & IPTL put together)
Star power of IPTL helped garner more conversations than PKL
New entrants in Cricket Sponsorship (Paytm, MRF & Ceat) increase the spends by 14%
While Cricket continues to be the biggest chunk in Sports industry pie, Non-Cricket sports has been the growth driver
Top 3 fastest growing sports are Kabbadi, Football & Marathons in that order
NON CRICKET TEAM SPONSORSHIP PORTFOLIO DEEPENS, WIDENS
team sponsorship pie in 2014, in the year under review, the needle has swung significantly northwards to 38.9%. Within Non Cricket Sports, like in 2014, only Football drew large enough Team Sponsorship revenues to warrant a separate examination.
If it was the Indian Super League that provided lift-off thrust for Football in 2014, when the Beautiful Game registered a 227% increase YOY from `265 million / $4.08 million to `603 million / $9.28 million, there was no loss of momentum in 2015. Rising further to `990 million / $15.23 million, Soccer scored a superb 67% rise in Team Sponsorship YOY.
It needs noting that while the ISL benefited with a 15% growth in Team Sponsorship, the tale was also about Indian brands getting behind European Football, English Premier League in particular.
Notable among which were three-year deals announced a day apart in September by global IT services providers HCL Technologies and Wipro with Manchester United and Chelsea respectively. In both cases the stated aim was to (paraphrasing here) “reimagine the digital and technology experience for millions of Chelsea / Manchester fans not only in-stadium, game-day experience, but also offer off-the-field experience leveraging on the (respective) English football club's rich heritage”.
There was also the renewal by Apollo Tyres of its deal with Manchester United first signed in 2013 that added to the Team Sponsorship numbers.
Keeping Football out of the picture, Other Sports saw a 38% upside, from `855 million / $13.15 million to `1180 million / $18 million. Of all the leagues that launched in 2014 – PKL, IPTL, CTL including the Hockey India League, it was Pro Kabaddi League that was the principal driver of increased Team Sponsorships.
Added into the mix was of course the Pro Wrestling League (PWL), which made a rather chaotic but in the end successful debut onto the franchise league map of India. Speaking of PWL, its six franchises pumped `240 million / $3.69 million into the system, which would make it `40 million / $0.62 million that each team is paying as franchise fees.
Going by the 2015 performance, the expectation is that ISL, PKL and PWL will be the key Team Sponsorship drivers behind big elephant IPL in 2016 as well. There is of course the hope that some new Sport (Volleyball?) does a PWL encore next year. Let's wait on that one.
The numbers tell a positive tale. Overall Team Sponsorship rose a healthy 13% from `4936 million / $76 million to `5582 million / $86 million, the increases coming despite a marginal 1.9% fall in Cricket Team sponsorship.On the Cricket front, the biggest potential downer was the scrapping of the Champions League T20. 2015 was also a year when Team India had far fewer bilateral international fixtures than in 2014, playing only 23 matches compared to the 39 clashes the Boys in Blue competed for in the previous year.
That the removal of such a big sporting property as CLT20, albeit a loss making one, combined with the Indian team’s much lighter work load in the year had only a minimal impact on Team Sponsorship is significant. It indicates that not only did the IPL draw in much more money from the market, but that Team India was pulling in a lot more per match
This explains why Cricket Team Sponsorship was down ONLY 1.9%, from `3478 million / $54 million in 2014 to `3412 million / $52 million in 2015.
That is one takeaway. The bigger one is that when the Big Daddy Sport is down, for the overall number to rise 13% it requires a big collective upswing from Non Cricket Sports to drive the market, which was the case in 2015. From `1458 million / $22 miliion in 2014 to ` 2170 million / $33 million in 2015 is a 48.8% increase. This is what drove the market forward at a time when Cricket was not pulling its weight sufficiently. Related to that, while Non Cricket Sports combined made up 29.5% of the
Team Sponsorship
Franchise Fee
Top 5 Category Wise Spends – Team Sponsorship
48.50%13.50% 15.20%
34.80% 31.50%
13.80%
10.50%
9.40%
42.20%
12.90%
13.60%
9.50%6.50%
11%
10.60%
9.70%
6.80%
IPL
Mobile Handset
Telecom
Consumer Durables
Real Estate
Apparel
Others
Real Estate
E - Com
Financial Service
FMCG
Airline
Others
FMCG
Real Estate
B&F
Energy
Other
ISL PKL
S. No. Component 2014 (` Mn) 2014 ($ Mn) 2015 (` Mn) 2015 ($ Mn)
1 Total 4823 74 4903 75
4823 74 4903 75
S. No. Component 2014 (` Mn) 2014 ($ Mn) 2015 (` Mn) 2015 ($ Mn)
1 Cricket 3478 54 3412 52
2 Football 603 9 990 15
3 Other Sports 855 13 1180 18
4936 76 5582 85
Source - ESP Properties Conversion rate $1 = `65
Source - GroupM Central Trading Group (CTG)
Team sponsorship pie grew by 13%
Major growth driver being non cricket sports
HCL (Manchester United) & Wipro (Chelsea) were the growth catalyst. Between the two, they contributed approximately 50% of the non-cricket growth pie
Mum
bai I
ndia
ns
Del
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ared
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Chen
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Kin
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Kolk
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Knig
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ider
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Roya
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Ban
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Sunr
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King
s XI
Pun
jab
Raja
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yals
0
2000000
4000000
6000000
8000000
10000000
12000000
14000000
Social Search
Mumbai Indians
Delhi Daredevils
Chennai Super Kings
Kolkata Knight Riders
Royal Challenegers Bangalore
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Kings XI Punjab
Rajasthan Royals
225062
84918
181511
319250
265170
74609
68561
171098
1249300
621282
2050682
1434333
1224589
707625
765744
735250
9732309
3131033
11828590
12762442
6875169
3284097
7477265
3295498
Franchise
555000
178800
424600
550
182100
166100
190350
3000
IPL Franchises - Social & Search Data
Social
Search
Source - GroupM
Volume of IPL conversation is same as cumulative conversations around IPL teams
KKR, RCB & MI are the 3 most talked about teams on social media
As compared to the huge follower base, CSK couldn’t generate much conversation online
ISL Franchises - Social & Search Data
875501
374406
649431
526198
376062
885392
763672
Atletico De Kolkatta
Chennaiyin FC
Delhi Dynamos
Mumbai City FC
FC Goa
FC Pune
Kerala Blasters
North East United FC
Social
107332
131588
35715
44818
105498
45791
41420
5063
158071
105188
46129
50161
49023
61062
132106
49475 243379
Search
302500
370000
111000
135500
247500
60500
14500
22000
Franchise
Atle
tico
De
Kolk
atta
Chen
naiy
in F
C
Del
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ynam
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Mum
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ity F
C
FC G
oa
FC P
une
Kera
la B
last
ers
Nor
th E
ast U
nite
d FC
0
1000000900000800000700000600000500000400000300000200000100000
Social
Search
Source - GroupM
ISL shows a divergence in team buzz vs league buzz. Teams are more talked about than the tournament
Search & Social are following the same trends
All teams have 6 digits facebook base
PKL Franchises – Social & Search Data
Social Search
U Mumba
Jaipur Pink Panthers
Dabang Delhi
Telugu Titans
Bengaluru Bulls
Patna Pirates
Puneri Paltan
Bengal Warriors
18803
20472
6463
9424
11806
7906
6773
10941
40500
8000
3600
18000
12000
6,500
5,000
2950
18803
20472
6463
9424
11806
7906
6773
6471
342299
179818
181363
256762
228343
137711
183766
154793
Franchise
U M
umba
Jaip
ur P
ink
Pant
hers
Dab
ang
Del
hi
Telu
gu T
itans
Beng
alur
u Bu
lls
Patn
a Pi
rate
s
Pune
ri Pa
ltan
Beng
al W
arrio
r
50000
100000
150000
200000
250000
300000
350000
400000
0
PKL franchises cumulatively generates 500 times more buzz than the league
Like ISL, PKL Search & Social are following the same trends
All the teams have started focusing on building their social assets
Social
Search
Source - GroupM
HIL Franchises - Social & Search Data
0
10000
20000
30000
40000
50000
60000
70000
80000
90000
100000
Ranc
hi R
ays
Kalin
ga L
ance
rs
UP
Wiz
ards
Del
hi W
aver
ider
s
Dab
ang
Mum
bai
Jayp
ee P
unja
b W
arrio
rs
Social Search
Ranchi Rays
Kalinga Lancers
UP Wizards
Delhi Waveriders
Dabang Mumbai
Jaypee Punjab Warriors
5719
3828
2146
3711
4779
2146
2,400
1,600
350
1,600
1,050
700
10446
1356
0
2373
1047
1228
439
46376
838
90371
75540
25310
Franchise
Social
Search
Source - GroupM
Social & Search numbers are looking weak for all the franchises which is affecting the league buzz
HIL franchises failed to build the traction on their Social assets
IPTL Franchises - Social & Search Data
Social Search
Micromax Indian Aces 1987
Japan Warriors 1376
Philippine Mavericks 1151
Oue Singapore Slammers 435
OBI UAE Royals 5389
700
0
250
50
50
14727
2213
658
8043
5830
118202
2241
8067
22379
22447
Franchise
Indi
an A
ces
Japa
n W
arrio
rs
Phili
ppin
e M
aver
icks
Oue
Sing
apor
e Sl
amm
ers
OBI U
AE R
oyal
s
0
20000
40000
60000
80000
100000
120000
140000Social
Search
Source - GroupM
None of the IPTL franchises able to pick up buzz on Search & Social
UAE royals created more social buzz than Indian Aces. Roger Federer is the buzz driver
Mum
bai G
arud
a
Har
yana
Ham
mer
s
Punj
ab R
oyal
s
Dill
i Vee
r
UP
War
riors
Beng
alur
u Yo
dhas
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
30000
35000
PWL Franchises - Social & Search Data
Social Search
Revanta Mumbai Garuda
Haryana Hammers
Punjab Royals
Dilli Veer
Bengaluru Yodhas
UP Warriors
2438
8050
4493
1051
4846
1877
1950
0
850
0
0
0
360
502
280
113
455
0
31655
28377
3648
1454
1947
71
Franchise
League generated more buzz than the teams
PWL teams need to build their social assets to generate traction on social media
Social
Search
Source - GroupM
SPORTS NEEDS A MOBILE AMPLIFICATION!From being a cricket-nation, sports will spread its wings as an industry in 2016. The Indian sports enthusiasts is savvy on technology, and belongs to the ‘mobile most’ generation. In conjunction to the above, mobile marketing is a very powerful tool for sports teams and organizations. It allows them to engage and interact, on a personal level, with their fans. Mobile is a communication medium that is ideal for the sports fan demographic, which is trendy, young, educated, and tech savvy.
Some facts to sketch-out the Indian fans on mobile:
• 70% of fans bring their mobile devices to a stadium for check-ins, making video and clicking photos.
• 46% of Mobile Internet Users use their mobile for search on sports, news etc.
• For Urban male 18-55, 2nd most content consumed on Mobile in Sports
• Sports is the 3rd most consumed media after Music and Movies and Lifestyle on Vuclip Platform.
India vs Pakistan(15th feb 2015)
(22nd feb 2015)India vs South Africa
(28th feb 2015)India vs UAE
18%
28.6
<24yr olds yr olds yr olds
25-35 35+
32.840.2
15%13%
20%
25.6
<24yr olds yr olds yr olds
25-35 35+
27.3
40.616%
12%
18%
23.2
<24yr olds yr olds yr olds
25-35 35+
21.2 25.0
16%
12%
SPORTS APPS USAGE - DURING CRICKET WORLD CUP 2015MOBILE INSIGHTS AGE WISE BREAK UP ON MATCH ANALYSIS
Reach % Time spend amongst users (mins / day)
Sports marketers are lucky in the sense that their audience is generally engaged with the brand— users that are active, involved and happy to participate in a brand’s promotion1.
Milind PathakCOO, South Asia,
Madhouse
3%
5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 19th 20th 22nd
0.64.8 5.4
13.0 16.7 11.920.5 18.6
13.2 13.9 14.3 12.016.1 18.3 20.2
12.5
22.53%4%
10%11% 11%
12%13% 13% 13%
11%
April 2015
PRE ‘IPL 8’ ‘IPL 8’
11% 11%10%
11% 11%12%
Bring Innovation in the mix to augment the brand recallAugmented Reality is the new reality. TV retargeting on mobile makes traditional TV campaigns more efficient. VR glasses are an opportunity waiting to make brand experiences surpass recall targets and content on mobile integrated with traditional media has the potential to make brand's campaigns go beyond.
In conclusion, as the sports industry gains its ground in India; franchises, organizers, players and teams can go efficient and innovative in marketing and not compromise on reach through mobile marketing and advertising. It’s high time that sports ecosystem needs to ‘Think Mobile, Plan Mobile and Do Mobile’.
Time spend amongst users (mins / day)Reach %
Mobile Possibilities for SportsEngage the audience in-stadium/premiseIn-stadium is the new form of pushing SMS communication to a captive audience rendering location based ads to drive specific marketing objectives of franchisees and brands.
An example of the same is when a football stadium in the U.K. designed a Wi-Fi system capable of supporting game-day crowds and integrated a second-screen app into the network. The CelticLIVE app offered users live commentary, exclusive content, and social sharing features.
Promote Native In-GamePromote sports events, promotions, players inside popular mobile games native to the environment. Major gaming apps have opened up their inventory native to the gaming environment, this gives brands an opportunity to design campaigns within relevant contexts.
Gather Intent to Attend Events What is possible on mobile is to build intent for events organized on-ground. Some examples of what a brand could do is send sequential SMS’s, serve rich content in-banner on sports platforms and drive traffic to the event portal. The reach that mobile gives you is beyond compare.
Advertise in Sports AppsA comparison of the usage figures for first two weeks showed that IPL 8 was ahead of IPL 7 as far as mobile viewership is concerned. Users are more engaged on sports apps during the weekends which can be attributed to the double headers played on Saturday & Sunday2.
IPL8 showed that mobile is a medium that is the most convenient media for fans to consume content. Penetration and engagement on sports apps remained steady after the start of IPL8.
Penetration and engagement on sports apps remain steday after the start of IPL8
MESSI SCORES BIG IN A YEAR WHERE ESTABLISHED STARS CALL THE SHOTS
The Big 3 of Indian Sport in 2014 – Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli – remained the Big 3 of Indian Sport in 2015. On the distaff side as well, the Big 3 Women of Indian Sport in 2014 – Saina Nehwal, Sania Mirza, MC Mary Kom – remained the Big 3 Women of Indian Sport in 2015.
What dwarfed everything else in 2014 was the signing of a global sporting superstar by an Indian business house and one of the largest corporate promoters of sports in India. Ergo 2015, what dwarfed everything else in 2015 was the signing of a global sporting superstar by an (even bigger) Indian business house and one of the largest corporate promoters of sports in India.
A four-year endorsement deal inked in 2014 by Hero MotoCorp, the world’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer with golfing superstar Tiger Woods at a never before heard in India `500 million / $7.69 million per annum was bested in 2015 by an even bigger auto major. In November, after a 16-month “processing” exercise (read chasing), Tata Motors signed Lionel Messi as their global brand ambassador onto a two-year deal at a whopping `600 million / $9.23 million per year. The world’s most gifted footballer thus became the first brand ambassador of the company in its 70-year history.
All of the above contributed to expanding the endorsement pie 27%, from `3278 million / $50 million in the previous year to `4164 million / $64 million in 2015.
“Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.”
Returning to the familiar, the year of the generational shift in Cricket that supposedly kick started in 2014 post the retirement of India's biggest sporting icon Sachin Tendulkar in end-2013 and the “dimming of the lustre” around Captain Cool MS Dhoni began and ended at Virat Kohli. The next big thing in Indian Cricket is now embedded alongside Sachin and MS as the third equal cog in the Big 3 that form Indian Sports endorsements. The big landmark in 2015 for the aggressive Indian Test team skipper was his stepping into the `1000 million / $15.38 million brand endorsement deal club that Dhoni and Tendulkar already belong to.
As for Sachin, the God of Indian Cricket showed he was going nowhere anytime soon. The all-time great is still getting endorsements, having added Aviva, Oxigen, Aster Pharmacy & Prime Median, the luxury property developer from Kochi, onto his brand portfolio in 2015.
Ditto Dhoni. India’s One-day International and T20 captain was the only Indian on the Forbes list of The World's Highest-Paid Athletes 2015. The Man from Ranchi was ranked 23rd, dropping a notch from his ranking of 22 in 2014. Dhoni's total earnings stood at $31 million, including amounts from salary / winnings at $4 million and endorsements worth $27 million.
In the distant next rung, meanwhile, the likes of Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina have started getting more brand endorsements. Ceat Tyres was a major signing for both in 2015.
To sum up, what we see in Cricket is that Sachin and Dhoni are holding firm, Virat is now at par with them (and expected to go past both in 2016), Rohit and Raina have made significant gains. How does all of this translate on the money scales? Cricket related endorsements pulled in `2644 million / $41 million in 2015, up from `2557 million / $39 million the previous year to register 3.4% YOY growth. Not much to write home about in absolute terms but it needs to be borne in mind that there is serious churn going on in the Cricket endorsement space. Erstwhile big names like Yuvraj Singh, Virendra Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan are either in the twilight zone of their careers or have retired and there are no serious contenders rising from the ranks as potential replacements.
This partially explains why there is so little upside on the endorsements front in what has been a good year for Cricket.
Move off Cricket and the Big 3, like in 2014, were Badminton queen Saina Nehwal, Tennis ace Sania Mirza and Boxer Mary Kom, (in that order). The only change from the previous year being Saina and Mary switching places for the first and third ranking positions.
While Sania stayed second in both 2014 and 2015 on the endorsements front, in the performance stakes if 2014 was great, 2015 was historic.
That the sponsorships these three stars pulled in made up 40% of the `420 million / $6 million that Non Cricket Sports garnered as endorsements in 2015 is telling. There is a massive market waiting to be tapped into if other stars are able to step up even incrementally. And this is happening. For it is worth noting that endorsements from Other Sports grew a spectacular 90% from the `221 million / $3 million recorded in 2014. The mushrooming of franchise based leagues is only going to give a further thrust to it.
After taking the Sydney International doubles title with American Bethanie Mattek-Sands in January, the Hyderabadi Hurricane teamed up with Swiss legend Martina Hingis in March and just took off. Sania and Martina closed 2015 9-1 in finals, combining to win two Grand Slam titles (Wimbledon and US), five WTA Premier titles, and capping off a year for the ages with the WTA Finals title in Singapore.
In the process Team SanTina not only attained the WTA team world number 1 rankings, but both are also separately ranked world number 1 in women’s doubles.
Still, while Sania is on an altogether different planet when it comes to prize money winnings compared to Saina and Mary, it is the Haryanvi badminton star who aces it in the endorsement stakes by a long mile.
Saina is currently earning approximately `150 million / $2.31 million endorsing some 12 brands. Sania has a more limited portfolio, endorsing just 6. She also made appearances on behalf of brands in Dubai, taking home `80 million+ / $1.23 million in earnings all told. As for Manipur and India’s most celebrated boxer, she endorses 15 brands, earning approximately `75 million / $1.15 million from all of them.
S.No. Component 2014 (` Mn) 2014 ($ Mn) 2015 (` Mn) 2015 ($ Mn)
1 Cricket 2557 39 2644 41
2 International Athletes 500 8 1100 17
3 Other Sports 221 3 420 6
3278 50 4164 64
Endorsement
Source - ESP Properties Conversion rate $1 = `65
Endorsement industry grew by 27%
International athletes contributes to 25% of the endorsement numbers in 2015
Tata Motors signed Lionel Messi as their global brand ambassador at whopping 600 million
Virat Kohli entered 1000 million club with brands endorsements
16%
53%
15%
7%
5%4%
ENDORSEMENT
Automobile 2 - Wheelers
FMCG Sports Wear
Cola Others
0
5000000
10000000
15000000
20000000
25000000
30000000
Vira
t Koh
li
Mah
inde
r Sin
gh D
honi
Shik
har D
haw
an
Sach
in T
endu
lkar
Rohi
t Sha
rma
Suni
l Che
ttri
Lean
der P
aes
Sani
a M
irza
Mar
y Ko
m
Sain
a N
ehw
al
Top 10 Athletes Social & Search Data
Social
Search
Source - GroupM
SRT has the maximum fan following followed by Virat & MSD
Amongst all the sports, Cricket players are the most conversed on social media; where MSD leading the buzz
Sania, Saina & Mary are holding the fort in non-cricket Sport
Social Search
9458592
4980261
9659086
233810
3112476
1321044
3470773
15277
182835
Virat Kohli
Mahinder Singh Dhoni
Sachin Tendulkar
Shikhar Dhawan
Rohit Sharma
Saina Nehwal
Sania Mirza
Mary Kom
Sunil Chettri
Leander Paes
800795
981014
510742
106839
335262
265812
224609
32481
784
70524
596,230
544,420
477,260
254,510
222,080
123,560
74,000
63,010
29,360
1,000 276734
24074912
17078583
26125168
6061428
8422685
6704380
10407387
3364481
273139
662594
Franchise
Nitin Kukreja, President and Head of Sports, STAR India
Let’s nurture the economic opportunity that the various leagues have thrown upIf we look at the key ingredients that have led to the success and the deep-rootedness of cricket,
two aspects really come to the fore. One, the presence of world-beating heroes and two, a simultaneous ground-swell of mass participation in the sport – lending ourselves to being called a cricketing nation. Today, we are at a stage, where we are seeing the emergence of champions in various sports. And it is now up to all stakeholders, as a group, to ensure that we nurture our champions and put in place deep rooted systems and institutions that bring more champions to the fore. And equally important, if not more, is for us to facilitate the mass participation in sport so that sport itself becomes ingrained in our cultural ethos.
So now coming to the important question; how do we ensure that this movement continues,in fact gathers further momentum?
Forget cricket for a moment, see the thousands of people that are participating in marathons, half-marathons and other runs across the country. For once, we move past all our divisions of state, religion, caste, creed, gender and become one community, one nation! Need there be any other bigger justification for sport! I don’t think so!
In addition to this, there are the multiple other benefits that sports can drive - on account of a healthier society, tourism, hospitality and to national productivity in general.
Muhammad Ali, once said, "Champions aren't made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them — a desire, a dream, a vision." This is exactly the kind of clarity of thought that should drive us to help our nation succeed in the Sports sector.
At the very first level, and this is where we have to come together as an ecosystem, is to realize that sports are important! I think we have done a very poor job of articulating the multiple benefits that can accrue from sports. In a young country like India where the median age is 27 years, it is extremely important to engage with the youth in a meaningful manner. And as far as I see it there is no better way than sport! In a country, where divisions are much more easily created than unions, sport can play a huge part in being that unifier. Even today, among the most telling, the most unifying, and the most positive thing that brings India to a halt is an India-Pakistan cricket game! Nearly 650 million Indians saw the 2015 Cricket World Cup – now compare this to the 550 million people who voted in the last general elections and to the measly 130 million people who see a Bollywood blockbuster! Quite the story isn’t it! And no different from when America comes together and shuts down for the Super Bowl!
Alongside, there is a nascent groundswell in terms of participation in sports. Whether it is in the various sporting leagues that have come – the IPL, ISL, PKL to name a few – or to the point where now ordinary Indians are playing, there is a stronger movement going on here. Whether it is the 4 million people participating in the Gujarat Khel Mahakumbh or the 2.5 million people who have taken up Running/Brisk Walking as a sport or the 500+ Kabaddi clubs in Mumbai alone or the various badminton academies sprouting up across the nation, India is getting ready to play. We just need to ensure that we give them the right push.
And of course, sporting events become a showcase of a nation’s progress and pride. Look how China has successfully used the Olympics to showcase itself – both in terms of achievements in sport as well as in hosting the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Do we really need any bigger statement than what sport is able to provide? Crucially, this at a time when the world is seeking out nations that provide a beacon of hope. India can be just that nation and sports should be front and center of the showcasing of India’s prowess. Just that we need to wake up to it ourselves!
The advent of the Indian Premier League, Pro Kabaddi League, Indian Super League, Premier Badminton League and the Hockey India League has further helped in creating heroes and champions. These leagues have provided aspiration to millions who finally believe that they can leverage their talent and make a living off sports unlike the generations of the past. It was one of the major drawbacks of cricket that careers existed only for 15 players. And this, therefore, added to the ideology that has so propagated itself – that there was no future in sport. But today, the IPL itself has created career opportunity for more than 150 cricketers instead of just the 15. And extend this to other sporting leagues today; we have created an unprecedented economic opportunity for players. Today, we have young players like Pawan Negi, Akashdeep Singh, and Eugeneson Lyngdoh earning amounts that would match up or even surpass many corporate salaries! No longer should any kid have to be told that the only way to earn a livelihood is to become a doctor, or an engineer or a civil servant. Today, becoming a sportsperson can be equally if not more financially rewarding. What we have to ensure is that this economic opportunity gets nurtured and expanded further. The invisible hand of economics will start ensuring that we get more and more players into sport.
We do believe that India is a cricketing nation. And it is manifested when we see cricket being played all around us. In maidans, in gullies, in grounds – and that is exactly what needs to be replicated in other sports too. We do have a reasonable starting point in terms of infrastructure. We just need to make it more open and
accessible. Let’s make sure that there is no kid who cannot access a playground because it was under lock and key. Throw them open! And let the next generation not be the lost generation. Make sports an essential part of school curriculum – at par with Physics, Chemistry or Maths! The more people play, the more chances there are of unearthing another Saina or a Sania. The younger we discover them, the better it is…
Let’s also set very ambitious targets for ourselves – let’s desire to win 100 medals at the 2024 Olympics, let’s want to be a part of the 2026 Football World Cup, let’s want to win the cricket and hockey World Cups – together! Let’s want to produce an Indian Usain Bolt!
To sum up, let us first recognize the importance of sport for our country, second, let’s nurture the economic opportunity that the various leagues and events have thrown up and finally, get India to play through providing access to facilities that we already have and by making sport a compulsory part of school curriculum – and match all of this with an ambition.
There is no right or wrong way here, but we have examples right in front of us. There is an Australia, there is the US, there is China – and then there is Cricket in India. All we need to do is take the right steps and apply the right learnings from across. If we can do that, I am confident that not only will we have an India that can create many more Champions – with many more World Cups and Olympic medals – but we will have a healthier society joined as one by a passion for sports!
Source - GroupM CTG Conversion rate $1 = `65
IPL, ICC WORLD CUP, NEW LEAGUES SPIKE ON AIR REVENUE
A Cricket World Cup year is always a safe bet in terms of significantly spiking television ad revenues. Even one played out in Australia New Zealand where India unfriendly time zones negatively impact ratings and by extension monies. That ICC host broadcaster Star Sports was able to pull in `5000 million / $76.92 million as ad revenues despite the challenges thrown up due to the unfavorable match times was a big factor in 2015 seeing a 6.8% increase YOY in On Air sponsorship at `26900 million / $414 million, from `25180 million / $387 million the previous year.
That and of course the fact that Sony network’s cash cow property IPL was back up where it belonged as the biggest draw on Indian television. Positive business sentiment, coupled with the fact that Indian sport's biggest annual television event had put behind it the spot fixing and betting controversies. And of course that the Supreme Court appointed Justice RM Lodha Committee’s two-year suspension of IPL franchises Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals was still a few months away. All of which ensured that the network saw a 15-20% upside over 2014 from on air revenues to again cross the `8000 million / $123 million mark.
Which raises the question as to why then there was only a 6.8% overall increase in a year that saw the Indian Super League rake in `1000 million / $15.38 million for Star Sports with the Pro Kabaddi League pulling in another `450 million / $6.92 million for the 21st Century Fox owned network.
To begin with, there was no World Twenty20, no Asia Cup in 2015. There was also the fact that Team India played less matches in the year. If in 2014 India played 39 international fixtures and 6 ICC matches (World T20) in 2015 it was down to 23 games and 6 ICC matches (World Cup).
This was also the year the Champions League T20 was discontinued, which pulled another `450 million / $6.92 million odd out of the system.
There were also the incremental accruals also from IPTL, CTL as well as season 3 of HIL and of course the sleeper hit that was the “low budget” Pro Wrestling League which ultimately all added up to a healthy upside in television ad revenues.
On a concluding note, the massive correction that was seen in the price paid by Star to retain its hold on English Premier League rights shows that the Wild West days of bidding for sports properties are now well and truly a thing of the past.
When Star paid an unviable $145 million for Premiership rights for the 2013-2015 cycle of rights there was also a strategic imperative at play – to deny rival Sony a bread and butter property to leverage when it launched its dedicated sports channel SIX.
No such imperative was there for the 2016-17 to 2018-19 cycle of rights and the price Star committed to retain them has plummeted to a more realistic $90 million.
The three principal networks in the sports broadcast arena in India – Star, Sony and Zee – all look well settled in terms of the sports properties that they currently hold rights to. So any bid strategies going forward will have hard business logic and zero talk of “loss leader”, “perception value upside” and the like.
Is this also a possible indicator of “things to come” when the BCCI issues its tender for 10-year rights for the “Manoranjan ka Baap” of Indian sporting properties – the IPL – later in 2016. We believe so.
Longer live content duration with PKL, ISL, HIL, PWL, etc.
Wider reach and consistent performance metrics of non-cricket sports could help in garnering more spends in future
Although 2015 India cricket days were lesser, ICC ODI World Cup gave a great fillip to ad revenues
Hotstar launch during ICC ODI WC 2015 helped in driving digital consumption of live sports
S. No. Component 2014 (` Mn) 2014 ($ Mn) 2015 ( ` Mn) 2015 ($ Mn)
1 Total 25180 387 26900 414
25180 387 26900 414
Top 10 On Air Category Wise Spends - IPL & ISL
29.73%
4.60%
4.70%
4.73%
4.75% 5%5.71%
5.88%
9.90%
10%
15%
ISLTwo Wheelers Mobile Handset
Automobiles Loan
E - Com Liquor
Apparels IT
Courier Service Rubs & Balms
Others
26%
9.83%
9.17%
6.21%5.45%4.00%
3.00%
2.83%
2.70%
2.55%
28.12%
IPL
Source - GroupM CTG
E - Com Telecom Service Provider
Mobile Handset Two Wheelers
Soft Drinks Aerated Pan Masala
Chocolates Soft Drinks Non Aerated
Auto Cars Biscuits
Others
Top 10 On Air Category Wise Spends - PKL & HIL
Top 10 On Air Category Wise Spends - IPTL & PWL
PKL
16.43%
15.66%
11.07%
11.05%
10.26%
7.48%
6.66%
6.44%
5.12%
3.61%6.22%
25.10%
23.90%
22.70%
7%
6.80%
6.30%
4.60%3.30%
0.20%0.10%
HIL
-
IPTL
29%
25%13.20%
11.60%
11%
3.40%3.10%
1.40% 1.50%0.90%
PWL
22.70%
20.40%
16%
10.30%
9.30%
6.60%
5.60%2.60%
2.50%2.10%
2.10%
Two Wheelers Hair Oil Mobile Handset
Vitamins / Tonics Banking IS - General
Durables BPO E - Com
Cement
E - Com Two Wheelers Lightings
Hosiery Soft Drinks Aerated Loans
Social Ads - Govt Biscuits Auto - Commercial
Auto - Cars / Jeeps Others Vehicles
Source - GroupM CTG
E - Com Auto - Cars / Jeep
Rubs & Balms Suitings
Financial Institue Mobile Handset
Soft Drinks - Aerated Soft Drinks - Non Aerated
Apparels FMCG
Soft Drinks Aerated Chyavanprash Soft Drinks Non Aerated Health Stimulant Tooth Pastes Air FreshnersLightings Chewing Gum Telecom Service Software Others
LOOKING BACK, LOOKING FORWARD
The third edition of the India Sports Sponsorship Report provides an opportunity to assess the state of the nation as it were in its contin-uing journey to become a Sporting Nation. Accepting that it remains one in the making, and will remain so for the foreseeable future, is an incontrovertible truth. So it is a no brainer that this market remains one that offers immense opportunities underpinned by unique challenges. We think therefore that a quick look back further than 2013, the first assessment year of the India Sports Sponsorship Report, is in order. No surprises that 2008, the year Indian Premier League launched, is our default go to in this case.
In these eight years, Sports Sponsorship as a whole has grown 114% (from `24232 million to `51854 million in 2015); On Ground 140% (`4260 million to `10305 million); Team Sponsorship 27% (from `4370 million to `5582 million); Franchise 72% (`2842 million to `4903 million); Endorsements 230% (from `1260 million to `4164 million); and finally On Air 130% (from `11500 million to `26900 million).
SummaryYear 2008 in ` 2009 in ` 2010 in ` 2011 in ` 2012 in ` 2013 in ` 2014 in ` 2015 in ` Mn Mn Mn Mn Mn Mn Mn Mn
Overall 24232 27262 40372 53137 44045 43811 46165 51854
% Growth 13% 48% 32% -17% -1% 9% 12%
On Ground 4260 4200 10430 7050 7120 7568 7948 10305
% Growth -2% 150% -30% 1% 6% 5% 30%
Team 4370 4450 4560 7240 6690 4647 4936 5582
% Growth 2% 3% 60% -8% -30% 6% 13%
Franchise 2842 2842 2842 6177 4805 5274 4823 4903 0% 0% 0% 117% -22 10% -8% 2%
Athlete 1260 1270 2540 2670 2930 3822 3278 4164
% Growth 1% 100% 5% 10% 30% -14% 27%
On Air 11500 14500 20000 30000 22500 22500 25180 26900 26% 38% 50% -25% 0% 12% 7%
Source - ESP Properties
What were the key markers that impacted the Indian Sports ecosystem in the past eight years, for better or worse?
A big high was the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games, adverse media reporting notwithstanding. Though remembered as much for the scams that were associated with CWG organizing committee chief Suresh Kalmadi as the sporting spectacle, the mega event went off without a hitch and showcased India’s capabilities in mounting and delivering a multi-sport mega event on par with the best the world has to offer.
If On Ground Sponsorships increased a massive 150% in 2010, credit that to the much maligned Delhi Games.
2011 was when India hosted the ICC World Cup and it was delivered with panache. The fact that the Boys in Blue took home the trophy and in the process gifted Sachin Tendulkar the only prize remaining to fill his glittering trophy cabinet, was the icing on the cake for a Cricket crazed nation. Host broadcaster ESPN Star Sports went laughing all the way to the bank driving On Air Sponsorships upwards a massive 50% to `30000 million / $462 million as a result.
Formula1 came to India with a bang in 2011, but the subsequent two years saw a steady erosion in fan interest. That was not the only reason that forced Indian Grand Prix promoters Jaypee Group to throw in the towel after the 2013 race. The economics just did not work for the real estate giants.
2011 also saw the addition of two franchises to the IPL at beyond ridiculous price points. Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Sahara Pune Warriors pumped into BCCI’s coffers more than what the other eight original IPL teams put together were paying. It was their joint contribution that pushed Franchise Fees up 117% to `6177 million that year.
Likewise, Team Sponsorship also benefitted, rising 60% to `7240 million. It was no surprise therefore, that Kochi Tuskers were history after one season (though the matter is still being fought in the courts).
Pune Warriors survived two years longer but they too were gone by 2014, but not before paying `1700 million annually over three years as franchise fees.
Sahara’s exit from the IPL had repercussions on the team sponsorship front as well. From July 1, 2010 to December 31, 2013, Sahara had taken the team sponsorship for a massive `33.4 million per match. Airtel, the other bidder, had quoted `28.9 million per match.
With Sahara embroiled in a stalemate with BCCI over its IPL team's ownership, the embattled company walked away from the Team India jersey sponsorship as well. In 2014 Star bagged the rights at `20 million per match.
There was a price correction on BCCI’s Series Sponsor front as well. Airtel, had won said rights for the period September 1, 2010 to March 31, 2013 at `33.3 million per match. When the telecom major chose not to renew, it went to Star for `20 million.
Year 2008 in $ 2009 in $ 2010 in $ 2011 in $ 2012 in $ 2013 in $ 2014 in $ 2015 in $ Mn Mn Mn Mn Mn Mn Mn Mn
` - $
Conversion Rate 43 48 46 47 53 59 61 65
Overall 564 568 878 1131 831 743 757 798
On Ground 99 88 227 150 134 128 130 159
Team 102 93 99 154 126 79 81 86
Franchise 66 59 62 131 91 89 79 75
Athlete 29 26 55 57 55 65 54 64
On Air 267 302 435 638 425 381 413 414
The IPL Title Sponsorship also made headlines when beverages giant Pepsi committed `3968 million for 5 year rights. The reasons for its walking away from the deal two years early have been well documented but in this case at least there was no price correction fallout. Chinese mobile maker Vivo picked up the rights for the remaining two years at the same price that Pepsi had been paying (`800 million a year).
On the Endorsements front it was NOT usual suspects MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar or Virat Kohli who made news but two global superstars. In 2014 Hero Moto Corp signed up golfing great Tiger Woods for `500 million per annum. In 2015 Tata Motors topped that in signing with the world's best footballer Lionel Messi for `600 million a year.
The real story of the last eight years is of course the emergence of new Leagues. Discounting the “one season wonders”, the ones that can be classified as bonafide hits are Pro Kabaddi League and Indian Super League. As for Hockey India League, Champions Tennis League and International Premier Tennis League, the verdict is still to come out on these three.
Coming to the year under review, 2015 began with N Srinivasan losing his vice like grip on the levers of power in the BCCI. By the second half of the year the power shift was complete with new board president Shashank Manohar instituting a complete rehaul of both the BCCI and ICC and Anurag Thakur well ensconced as board secretary. Thakur has bigger aspirations - to be the next board president, no less. And with his party ruling at the Centre, he could well swing it in future.
Action on the cricket field is however, what ultimately gets the advertising money rolling. Scandals or no scandals, on this front the news was all good.
The news was similar for the IPL franchises as well, with upsides of 15-30% over the 2014 numbers.
Coming to the new leagues that launched in 2014, both ISL and PKL did exceptionally well though it was Kabaddi that walked away with ratings bragging rights for non-Cricket sport.
And 2016? What is awaited of course is how the Supreme Court hearings on the reform plan recommended by the RM Justice Lodha Committee pan out. Of particular interest to the broadcasters (as well as the BCCI of course) is whether the Apex Court goes with the panel’s recommendations on advertising insertions during Live telecast — to restrict ad breaks to drinks, lunch and tea intervals, in Tests and ODIs.
The learned judges have left Twenty 20 cricket out of this ambit. Why? Their thinking clearly being that T20 is the entertainment format of Cricket so the stakeholders can make their monies there. But the “real” cricket (read Tests and ODIs) should be left “unsullied”.
This has naturally set off alarm bells among the broadcasters, with industry stalwarts arguing that the overall fall in On Air ad revenues could be as high as 66%.
Also, expect more IPL-templated leagues to sprout in 2016 with leagues for Table Tennis, Cue Sports and Volleyball definitely launching in the course of the year.
About Volleyball, the internecine feuding within the Volleyball Federation of India is playing out as the theatre of the absurd with the VFI president and secretary throwing their respective weights behind rival leagues.
On the feuding front, Boxing and Basketball have both suffered enormously due to the petty politicking by the federations’ “custodians” over the last two years. India is seriously facing the ignominy of possibly not being represented in Boxing at this year’s Olympic Games. For a country where Olympic medals are hard to come by, this situation is criminal.
As for Basketball, it is the internal feuding that is preventing IMG-Reliance, into Year 6 of a 30-year agreement it has granting it all commercial rights to the Hoops Game in India, that is holding back the launch of a big ticket franchise-based league.
All in all, there remains much to look forward to in 2016. And Sport as a participation activity and not just as spectator engagement continues to widen and deepen. That is the reality that underpins every new wannabe league that is looking to make a play in this market that holds manifold challenges and immense opportunities.
Let The Games Go On Please!
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