“There is a good amount of interest and sponsorships from corporate houses for athletes and sports players who have reached the top levels. But if there is a lot more corporate sponsorship at the grassroots levels, too, it would be more beneficial to promote sports in India,” Chopra said.
Indian corporates need to invest much more at grassroots levels to promote sports in the country, Olympic javelin gold medallist Neeraj Chopra told ET in an online interaction on Monday.
“There is a good amount of interest and sponsorships from corporate houses for athletes and sports players who have reached the top levels. But if there is a lot more corporate sponsorship at the grassroots levels too, it would be more beneficial to promote sports in India,” Chopra said. He was speaking ..
across diverse sports such as badminton, weight lifting and boxing. And in July this year, Chopra became only the second Indian to win a medal at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon
Sandeep Goyal, managing director at ad agency Rediffusion said: “Sponsorship and promotions of emerging sports is a corporate decision and depends on the priorities of corporate houses. Having said that, the government also needs to do more seeding for Indian sports at the grassroots.”
Chopra signed a dozen brands as endorsements after winning the Olympic gold medal last year at Tokyo, only the second Indian to win an individual gold at the Olympics. Soon after, Chopra, 24, signed a slew of big brands for endorsements, including online education platform Byju’s, Tata AIA Life Insurance, financial services firm Cred and athletic gear maker Under Armour. His endorsement value also saw a 10-fold increase, with endorsement fees surging from Rs 20 to Rs 30 lakh annually, to Rs 2.5 crore per year, according to industry estimates.
By : Ratna Bhushan, ET Bureau
Last Updated: Aug 23, 2022, 09:12 AM IST
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