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Sports industry spending exceeds Rs 9,500 cr in 2021: GroupM report
Mumbai: The year 2021 saw a resounding comeback for sports sponsorships and media deals, as compared to 2020 when the pandemic took over. The size of the Indian sports industry spending is estimated to have surpassed Rs 9,500 crore last year, according to the latest sports sponsorship report released by GroupM India’s entertainment, e-sports and sports division GroupM ESP.
With Rs 6,018 crore, sports advertisement expenditure (adex) surpassed 2019 levels in both TV and digital. Cricket yet again, remains the most popular sport, accounting for 94 per cent of the sports adex. The media spending on cricket in 2021 was higher (Rs 5,657 crore) than the overall media spends of 2019 (Rs 5,232 crore).
The ninth edition of Sporting Nation in The Making – GroupM ESP’s sports report takes into consideration the sponsorship spends, player endorsements and media spends on sports properties. The spending on sports celebrity endorsement grew by 11 per cent year-on-year in 2021, says the report. A total of 444 brand endorsement deals have happened in 2021, with cricketers accounting for 318 endorsement deals and 87 per cent of total brand endorsement value. The Olympic Year of 2021 increased emerging sports athletes’ endorsements by 79 per cent, accounting for 13 per cent of the overall brand endorsement value, as per the report.
2021 got our sporting nation back to a billion-dollar scale with a 62 per cent growth over 2020, the report said. India’s performance at the Tokyo Olympics has been a morale booster for budding sports talent in the country and 2022 will bring new opportunities in multi-sport events.
The household penetration of TV sets in different markets over the country saw a major role in the growth of sports properties. With this, TV continues to be the largest medium since 2021 saw overall ad spends of Rs 5,051 crore, which was a growth of 59 per cent over 2020 and we saw digital spends touching Rs 965 crore.
“2021 was a year of a major comeback for the sports industry. Not only in sports but we saw growth in sponsorships, endorsements, and media expenses in 2021,” remarked GroupM South Asia CEO Prasanth Kumar. “This year will also be a good re-start point for brands to invest in sports properties since sports will see a rise and will in-turn deliver ROI to brands.”
“We even saw e-sports gaining significant traction and there was a major rise in the number of gamers in the country. Properties like PKL, ISL, etc. are also seeing a major rise in followers which goes to show that India is heavily invested in overall sports from an interest and inquisitiveness standpoint. As for cricket, we are seeing a growing interest by foreign private equity giants investing in Indian cricket which is proving that cricket will continue seeing a huge surge in India and with 2021 getting cricket back on track, we are seeing 2022 racing ahead, aiming to cross Rs 10,000 crore mark,” Kumar further said.
Acceptance of visual media for live sports broadcast by fans led to a great demand of platforms like SonyLiv and Disney+ Hotstar who are now streaming a variety of sports for their audiences, says GroupM. The study finds the OTT space becoming more competitive in the years to come since India is adopting OTT for live streaming sporting action.
“India as a sporting nation has finally arrived, overcoming all barriers brought in by the pandemic,” stated GroupM South Asia head – sports, entertainment and e-sports Vinit Karnik. “Cricket being the hero of India, contributed 88 per cent of the sports spends. IPL and T20 WC boosted the sports adex growth. We also saw emerging sports contributing 12 per cent on the overall sports spends. The media spends in 2021 were the biggest contributors, who accounted for almost two-thirds of all sports industry spending.”
“While sports celebrity endorsement was on the rise in 2021, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Neeraj Chopra and PV Sindhu are the top athletes in the sports celebrity brand endorsement space. 2022 will be an exciting year with the Asian Games, Fifa World Cup, Premier Badminton League, and many more properties coming up, and the fans are in for a treat. The sports arena is an exciting drive ahead from the fanbase lens and the business lens too and we have a host of opportunities in the Indian sports industry,” he added.
With an action-packed 2021, media spends in sports saw some heavy scoring in India as brands and consumers were brought closer by broadcasters and technology also played a very crucial role in evolving the way people appreciate sports, according to GroupM.
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Madison World to launch AI platform M BrAIn for media planning
Agency group invests about $1 million as it shifts to AI driven growth planning.
MUMBAI: If media planning once ran on spreadsheets and gut instinct, the next chapter may run on algorithms and curiosity. Madison World is preparing to roll out the first version of its proprietary artificial intelligence platform Madison M BrAIn in early April, as the independent agency group accelerates its transition toward AI driven planning and product led media services.
The platform, expected to involve an investment of around $1 million, is designed to reshape how the agency approaches strategy by combining internal knowledge, external data sources and advanced AI models into a single intelligence ecosystem.
According to Madison Media, OOH and Hiveminds partner and group CEO Ajit Varghese the initiative forms part of a larger structural rethink within the organisation. “Traditionally agencies built frameworks around media planning and allocation. We are redesigning that structure into what we call a Growth Planning System (GPS),” Varghese said.
The shift reflects a growing belief that effective media strategy must begin earlier in the decision making process. Instead of jumping directly to channel allocation, planners must first decode the market itself identifying consumer barriers, purchase triggers and the core challenges facing a brand.
Once those insights are mapped, agencies can build clearer growth agendas for clients and design media strategies that connect more closely with business outcomes.
To support that approach, Madison has built Madison M BrAIn as what it describes as a human AI cognitive ecosystem. Acting as a central intelligence hub, the platform aggregates proprietary insights alongside external data sources and large language models, enabling planners to access deeper market intelligence before building campaign strategies.
Varghese said one of the core objectives is to democratise knowledge across the organisation. “In the past, this level of understanding was largely available to senior leaders or experienced strategists. With Madison M BrAIn, even a junior planner should be able to access the same intelligence and approach clients with a far more informed perspective,” he said.
The agency has already implemented the new planning philosophy internally and completed three months of testing for the AI platform, with early trials showing encouraging results in terms of learning capability and system performance.
While the first version relied on global large language models, Madison is now developing its own proprietary Small Language Model (SLM) to serve as the core of the M BrAIn ecosystem.
“The SLM will be able to read global LLMs, but the LLMs cannot read the SLM,” Varghese explained. “That ensures all the intelligence we build remains within the Madison ecosystem and strengthens our proprietary knowledge base.”
The first version of Madison M BrAIn is expected to go live in early April, with a more refined version targeted by the end of June. Over time, the platform will integrate additional external data streams and APIs including consumer insight platforms, social listening tools and client datasets.
These integrations are expected to enhance the system’s learning capability and enable it to generate increasingly sophisticated strategic recommendations.
Although the platform is currently being deployed for internal use, Madison sees potential for it to evolve into a licensable product in the future.
“At the moment, our focus is to stabilise and strengthen M BrAIn internally. But over time there is potential for this to become a product that could be licensed externally,” Varghese said.
The AI platform is also part of a wider technology transformation underway at the agency group. Alongside M BrAIn, Madison is building a broader digital infrastructure called the Catalyst operating system, which aims to integrate operational processes, data and product platforms into a unified ecosystem.
This broader technology stack could require an additional $1 million to $1.5 million investment over time, though spending will be phased and reviewed regularly.
“We are evaluating progress every three months and prioritising the most critical capabilities first,” Varghese said.
Madison expects the full AI and operating ecosystem to be fully functional within 12 to 18 months, positioning the agency to combine human strategy with machine intelligence as the advertising industry enters its next data driven phase.
