India’s sports industry clocked total revenue of ₹15,766 cr in 2023, cricket accounted for 87%: Report

The cumulative revenue clocked by India’s sports industry in calendar year 2023 is estimated at ₹15,766 crore, which was higher by 11% as compared to 2022, as per a report released by media investment company GroupM ESP on March 19.

Cricket, the most followed sport in India, accounted for ₹13,701 crore or 87% of the total revenue, added the report titled ‘Sporting Nation - Building a Legacy’. This is 13% higher as compared to the revenue drawn by the cricket industry in 2022.

Notably, the report takes into account the revenues earned through sponsorships spends, media spends and endorsement fees.

Sponsorship spends are estimated at ₹7,345 crore in 2023, the report said, adding that was 22% higher than in 2022. The surge was driven by the increase in franchise fees, which highlights the attractiveness of India’s sports franchising ecosystem, currently led by the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Sports celebrities, in 2023, drew a cumulative revenue of ₹927 crore in the form of endorsement fees. This marked a growth of 24% as compared to the preceding year, the report said.

Even as sponsorship spends and endorsement fees went up, the sports industry witnessed muted media spends during the past year, the report suggested. The overall media spends came in at ₹7,494 crore, which was marginally down by 1% as against the preceding year, it added.

However, the cricket industry witnessed a growth in digital ad spends, GroupM ESP said, pointing towards the increasing share of OTT platforms in broadcasting IPL and World Cup matches.

Sharing the statistics related to IPL, the report claimed that TV ad spends dropped by 17%, but digital ad spends grew by 25% in 2023.

“Predominantly propelled by cricket and bolstered by emerging sports alongside the rise of OTT platforms, we’ve observed a transformative shift in the consumption and celebration of sports in our country,” Prasanth Kumar, CEO, GroupM – South Asia said.