Sport sponsorship rise to Rs 5,900 cr, cricket corners 85% of money: Report

Sponsorships bagged by sporting events and personalities more than doubled to Rs 5,907 crore in 2022, but cricket continues to corner a bulk of the money, a report said on Tuesday.

Sports celebrities pocketed Rs 729 crore in 2022, which was a 20 per cent growth over the previous year, the report by media agency Groupm said, adding that Virat Kohli, M S Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Sachin Tendulkar, Neeraj Chopra, and PV Sindhu are among the highest billing sportspersons.

The overall spends on sports were pegged at Rs 14,000 crore by the agency, as against Rs 9,500 crore in the year-ago period.

A report 'Sporting Nation 2023' highlighted "the unprecedented growth of sports sponsorship in India, with spends on-ground, team, and franchise rising by Rs 3,021 crore, a whopping 105 per cent growth from 2021, making the total sponsorship spends Rs 5,907 crore".

It attributed the rise in overall spends in 2022 to a jump in the number of IPL matches, addition of two new teams in the popular cricket