2 days ago
Can Asian Games Success Turn Into Lucrative Athlete Endorsements?
Some athletes did very well at the Asian Games, and companies may want to work with them.
A medal can help, but it does not automatically bring lots of advertising deals.
Companies also look for athletes with interesting stories and a good fit for their products.
Sports outside cricket can help brands connect with passionate groups of fans.
Digital platforms can make it easier to reach those fans.
But cricket gets much more attention and is played throughout much of the year.
Experts say sports groups also need to help their athletes and sports become better known.
In 2025, cricket made up 87% of the money spent on sports celebrity endorsements, according to a cited report.
Asian Games performers including Kumkum Mohod, Lovlina Borgohain and Aman Sehrawat drew attention, but commercial success is not guaranteed.
Marketing experts say athletes’ personal stories, personalities and authentic fit with brands can help attract endorsement deals.
Emerging sports can offer targeted community relevance and lower endorsement fees, while digital platforms can help brands reach dedicated fans.
Cricket retains a major advantage through broad audiences, year-round visibility and an established media ecosystem; other sports often have more limited exposure.
WPP Media reported that sports celebrity endorsements reached Rs 1,350 crore in 2025, with cricket accounting for Rs 1,178 crore, or 87%.
- Who
- Asian Games athletes and brands considering endorsement partnerships.
- What
- The prospects and challenges of turning success in non-cricket sports into commercial endorsements.
- Where
- India.
- When
- Following the recently concluded Asian Games; the article also cites endorsement figures for 2025.
- Why
- Brands weigh athletes’ appeal and fit against cricket’s larger audiences, year-round visibility and established media ecosystem.
Case for emerging-sport endorsements
Barriers to matching cricket
Audience and brand connection
Case for emerging-sport endorsements
Emerging sports can offer sharper cultural and community relevance, and athletes’ stories or sport-specific qualities can create an authentic fit with brands.
Barriers to matching cricket
Cricket reaches broad audiences across urban and rural India, while other sports may appeal to more localised or limited fan groups.
Commercial visibility
Case for emerging-sport endorsements
Digital platforms can help advertisers target fans, and partnerships may involve lower fees and a more authentic connection.
Barriers to matching cricket
Cricket’s crowded calendar keeps its leading players in view for much of the year; other athletes may have fewer opportunities to build sustained recognition.
Who builds a sport’s popularity
Case for emerging-sport endorsements
Successful athletes can help popularise their sports, as examples cited by commentators suggest.
Barriers to matching cricket
One commentator argues that advertisers buy success rather than create it, and that sports bodies and federations must deliver consistent results to build lasting traction.
Key facts
- Sports celebrity endorsement market
- Rs 1,350 crore in 2025, according to WPP Media’s Sporting Nation report.
- Cricket’s share
- Rs 1,178 crore, or 87% of sports celebrity endorsements in 2025.
- Asian Games standouts mentioned
- Kumkum Mohod, Lovlina Borgohain, Vithya Ramraj, Aman Sehrawat and Sujeet Kalkal.
- Potential advantages of emerging-sport partnerships
- Lower endorsement fees, authentic connections and opportunities to reach sport-specific communities.
- Challenges for non-cricket athletes
- Less year-round visibility, regionalised audiences and the difficulty of becoming recognisable across consumer groups.
- Non-cricket athletes cited as commercially successful in 2025
- PV Sindhu, Neeraj Chopra, Manu Bhaker and Lakshya Sen.
Quotes
Shashank Lanjekar
Chief strategy officer at BBDO India
“The opportunity for brands is to identify what makes the person behind the medal interesting, which could be their personality or a compelling story that people may connect with”
financialexpress.com
“Sporting bodies and federations will need to deliver on consistent success for any non-cricketing sport to get comparable traction and media valuation.”
financialexpress.com
Sources
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