Brand PV Sindhu to become bigger after gold win at World Badminton Championship 2019

Ace shuttler PV Sindhu has made India proud once again after winning gold at the World Badminton Championship 2019. And this achievement will spell good news for her off the field as well.

According to Indranil Das Blah, CEO, Kwan Sports, this landmark achievement will positively impact her brand value.

“This (winning World Badminton Championship 2019) is something that no Indian has done. I won’t be surprised if her rates go up by 25 percent from what she is charging currently," he said.

Earlier this year in February, Chinese sports brand Li Ning had signed PV Sindhu for a four-year contract amounting to Rs 50 crore, which comes to about Rs 12.5 crore a year.

Sindhu was associated with the same brand for two years in 2014 and 2015 for Rs 1.25 crore a year.

Yonex, a Japanese manufacturer of sporting equipment, had got Sindhu on board for a Rs 3.5 crore per year contract for a period of three years in 2016.

It seems now brands will have to shell out more to get the world champion on board.

Currently, brand Sindhu is valued at USD 21.6 million, according to Duff and Phelps report in January and her recent win will give a significant boost to the badminton player’s brand worth.

“I think after this win she has established herself as India’s biggest female sports star. Even if you look at sports people and if you take Virat Kohli and Dhoni out, PV Sindhu would be third on the list over people like Shikhar Dhawan or Rohit Sharma, said Blah.

“So, if you look at Indian sports athletes as brands, PV Sindhu will be at top five. That’s how big she is and the prices she commands are also a reflection of that. She would be commanding more than anyone else apart from a Virat or a Dhoni,” he added.

Sindhu has several brands in her kitty including JBL earphones, Bridgestone tyres, Moov pain relief ointment, sports energy drink Gatorade, online fashion store Myntra, among others.

And her win at the Badminton World Championship will add more brands to the existing list.

Blah said that brands sign Sindhu as she stands for strong independent Indian woman who has beaten the system.

But he thinks that going forward brands should sign her for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

“World Championships are big achievements but nothing like Olympic gold. So, brands that sign her now should make sure they sign her for the Olympics duration because if she does win gold then her brand value will double. That is the opportunity for brands that will tap Sindhu going forward from now,” he explained.

This year Sindhu had also featured in Forbes list of world’s highest-paid female athletes by taking the 13^th position with total earnings of USD 5.5 million.

Sindhu’s growing brand value also paints a rosy picture for non-cricket sports celebrity endorsers.

“People like Sindhu, Sania (Mirza), Saina (Nehwal), Sunil Chhetri would be earning more than most Indian cricketers. So, if you look at the top 10 endorsers in Indian sports, I would say you would have four-five cricketers and four-five non-cricketers. So, there is a market there for non-cricket sports and athletes,” said Blah.