Sports sponsorship grew at 19.33 per cent in 2016 to Rs 6,400 crore from Rs 5363.3 crore in 2015, led by media spends, according to a report.
With ad spending in India touching Rs 55,671.0 crore in 2016, sports sponsorship makes up 11.5 per cent of the overall advertising pie.
The media spends rose 24.63 per cent to Rs 3510.8 crore from Rs 2816.9 crore, the ESP Properties - SportzPower report said.
The on ground sponsorship grew from Rs 1030.5 crore to Rs 1165.2 crore, team sponsorship was up from Rs 558.2 crore to Rs 699.6 crore, franchise fees went from Rs 541.3 crore to Rs 548.0 crore, while endorsements from Rs 416.4 crore to Rs 476.4 crore, it said.
It noted that non-cricket sports managed to expand their share of monies over 2015 in endorsement, on ground and franchise fees.
In terms of ground sponsorship, Kabaddi was the growth driver of 2016, more than cricket, it observed.
"If ground sponsorship grew a healthy 13 per cent, from Rs 1030.5 crore in 2015 to Rs 1165.2 crore in 2016, and while cricket added Rs 33.2 crore over its numbers in the previous year, it was Kabaddi that bulked up the coffers even more with Rs 74.0 crore in additional accruals," it said.
The on ground sponsorship for cricket grew at 6.27 per cent in 2016 at 562.7 crore from Rs 529.5 crore.
On the back of a two-season Pro Kabaddi League and India hosting the Kabaddi World Cup in Ahmedabad, the on ground sponsorship for the sport grew at 154 per cent, enabling it to drive past football as the number two game in the country on the money table in this aspect, it said adding that Kabaddi generated Rs 122 crore up from Rs 48 crore.
On ground sponsorship of football witnessed a de-growth of 3.9 per cent at 109.5 crore from Rs 114 crore in 2015.
It noted that in India, sports viewership is no longer male dominated, as females and kids comprise a significant portion of the viewership pie.
"Gone are the days of male dominance in sports viewership. The year's biggest chunk of spectators came from women and kids. This is ground-breaking data for brands to take that much desired leap of faith and traverse new grounds. Cricket continues to be the poster child for sponsorships, and non-cricket sports still have a fair leap to make to match revenue," ESP Properties Business Head Vinit Karnik said.
The report noted that team sponsorship in cricket grew
25.85 per cent in 2016 to Rs 429.4 crore from Rs 341.2 crore, while football saw a drop from Rs 99.0 crore in 2015 to Rs 98.2 crore in 2016.
In terms of franchise fees, cricket saw a marginal de-growth of 0.97 per cent from Rs 340.1 crore in 2015 to Rs 336.8 crore in 2016.
In other sports, the franchise contribution has shown a growth of 4.97 per cent from Rs 201.2 crore to Rs 211.2 crore in 2016, said the report.