PV Sindhu signs Rs 50 cr sports deal: Non-cricketers too scoring big in endorsements

Agencies
February 11, 2019

New Delhi, Feb 11: With India doing well in a range of Olympic sports in recent years, sportspersons in disciplines other than cricket have also started to score lucrative endorsement deals.

Olympic and World Championship silver medallist P.V. Sindhu is the latest non-cricketer to be associated with a mega sponsorship deal. The badminton star recently signed a four-year sports sponsorship deal for a whopping Rs 50 crore with Chinese sports brand Li Ning.

The record deal comes after K. Srikanth was offered Rs 35 crore over a period of four years by the company last month.

This is not the first time Sindhu and Srikanth have signed deals with Li Ning. According to media reports, both shuttlers were with the Chinese brand earlier before signing deals with Yonex.

Saina Nehwal, the other star women's badminton player in India, has deals with Kellogg, Iodex, Fortune Oil, Top Ramen and NECC.

Boxer M.C. Mary Kom is another non-cricketer to strike it big. The six-time world champion signed a deal with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited in September as their brand ambassador. The two-year deal will see the Olympic bronze medallist engage in promotional activities for BSNL for its various services.

Star athlete Hima Das has also joined the bandwagon. The Asian Games and World U-20 champion signed an endorsement deal with sports equipment manufacturer Adidas in September last year.

The Assam athlete has also become the brand ambassador for YONO, SBI's integrated digital banking platform, and Edelweiss. She has also become the first Indian sportsperson to be a UNICEF Youth Ambassador.

Cricket however, continues to rule the roost. Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli has emerged as the most valued celebrity in the country for the second successive year with an estimated brand worth of $170 million.

Virat signed a Rs 110 crore deal with sportswear giant Puma in February 2017. The agreement is supposed to last eight years. Apart from that, he also has deals with a host of other brands including Wrogn, MuveAcoustics, Too Yumm, Tissot, Manyavar, Royal Challenge, American Tourister, Boost Energy Drink, MRF Tyres, Uber India, Remit 2 India and Philips.

The Delhi batsman had dethroned Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan as the most valued celebrity in India for the first time in 2017.

Italian luxury sports watchmaker Panerai had announced former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni as their brand ambassador for India in December 2018.

The Indian women cricketers have also bagged their share of sponsorships with star player Smriti Mandhana being appointed the brand ambassador for Alcon, also in December last year.

The greatest cricketer of them all, Sachin Tendulkar, however, continues to be a hot target for brands even several years after his retirement.

The legendary batsman has sponsorship deals with Pepsi, Boost, Adidas, Apollo Tyres, Luminous Power, True Blue and NECC apart from several other brands.

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News Network
June 2,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 2: Bangladesh opening batsman Tamim Iqbal has said that he was ashamed on seeing the training regime of Indian skipper Virat Kohli.

Iqbal said that the incident happened two-three years back as he thought to himself that why he cannot do the same even when he is the same age as Kohli.

"I must say this, it is not because I am talking to an Indian commentator, India is our neighbour so whatever things they do, it affects Bangladesh as well. We follow what is happening in India, when India changed its approach towards fitness, it impacted Bangladesh the most," Iqbal told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

"I have no shame in admitting this, when I saw Virat Kohli running around two-three years ago, I was ashamed of myself, I thought this is a guy who is probably my age, but he is training so much and I have not doing even half of it. We have a great example in our team as well, Mushfiqur Rahim manages himself well regarding fitness," he added.

During his initial days of international cricket, Kohli was fond of chicken which he has admitted several times during media interaction.

But in 2013, the 31-year-old batsman intentionally shifted his focus to fitness, diet, and training.

Now he has become punctual about his diet which has given him a different character on and off the field.

The comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar have also kept on growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar managed to call time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli currently has 70 centuries across all formats.

Currently, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in the second place in Tests rankings.

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coastaldigest.com web desk
August 3,2020

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will not end its partnership with Chinese companies. Vivo, the Chinese smartphone maker, is the main sponsor of the new IPL season as well. Apart from Vivo, PayTM and Dream 11 will also be at the helm of the 13th edition of the IPL. The IPL governing council meeting on Sunday decided to retain the old sponsors.

As soon as the IPL GC announced the decision of retaining the sponsors, a huge number of fans took to Twitter to slam the board for the same. #BoycottIPL started trending as the users urged others to boycott the tournament for the Chinese connection.

Earlier, the demand for exclusion of Chinese companies from the IPL was strong in the wake of the India-China border dispute. But the BCCI cannot abruptly end its collaboration with them. Because of the signed contract itself. And in this age of declining economy, it is difficult to find new sponsors quickly.

The current BCCI contract with Vivo is for five years. Vivo has invested Rs 2,199 crore to become the main sponsor of the IPL. The contract was signed in 2017. However, the BCCI’s move is paving the way for new discussions as calls are mounting across the country to boycott Chinese companies.

The BCCI announced other important decisions besides retaining sponsors. The IPL will be held from September 19 to November 10. The Indian government has given permission to the BCCI to hold the IPL in the UAE. With this, all obstacles in the way of organizing the tournament were removed.

The IPL matches will be played at 7.30 pm Indian time (6 pm UAE time). Most matches are about one match a day. There are a total of ten ‘double headers’ (two matches a day) in the tournament. Franchisees are allowed to appoint as many replacements as they want in the new season in view of the new health situation. At the same time, the maximum number of players a franchise can accommodate is 24. The BCCI is also planning to host a women’s IPL tournament.

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News Network
February 4,2020

Feb 4: India captain Virat Kohli on Tuesday said the death of NBA legend Kobe Bryant in a helicopter crash has impacted his outlook towards life, which he feels, is sometimes taken for granted in pursuit of control over the future.

Bryant, a two-time Olympic gold-medallist and one of the most decorated basketball players of all time, died in a helicopter crash last month along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, who was also a budding hoopster.

"Firstly, it was a shock to everyone. I grew up watching those NBA games in the morning and watching what he did on court. But when someone that you have looked up to in some ways, passes away like that, it does put things in perspective," Kohli said on the eve of the first ODI against New Zealand here.

"...at the end of the day, life can be so fickle. It's so unpredictable. I think a lot of the times we get too caught up in the pressures of what we have to do tomorrow...we really forget living life and enjoying life and just appreciating and being grateful for the life we have," he added.

Kohli said a tragedy like this makes one realise that nothing can be more important than enjoying every moment of existence.

"...it did put things in perspective for me massively. It just makes you feel like not wanting to have control of things in front of you all the time, and just embracing life and appreciating it.

"You start looking at things from a different point of view suddenly and you want to enjoy every moment you're going through. You realise that what you're doing at the end of the day is not the most important thing. The most important thing is life itself," Kohli signed off.

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