Medals won by Indians at the Beijing games catapulted Olympic sports into the limelight, making corporates sit up and take notice. With London said to be India?s best chance ever, we take a look at sponsorship for the Indian contingent

Before he won a bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, boxer Vijender Singh was also a wannabe model and often did small fashion shows in equally small towns. Today, the boxer is referred to as a 360-degree media icon, having dabbled in endorsements, ramp shows, reality shows, TV appearances and even a film debut. Reportedly, the endorsement deal that he has signed with Nike is worth R3 crore, while other deals with Nestle, Pepsi Co, Himani Fast Relief, All India Poultry Development & Services and Siyaram are worth R1 crore each.

Wrestler Sushil Kumar, who also won a bronze in Beijing, has deals with Eicher Tractor, Pepsi Co, Himani Fast Relief and NECC worth R60-70 lakh each.

If the Beijing games catapulted Olympic sports into the limelight, the London Olympics are being touted as India?s best chance. And corporate India is right in the thick of it.

For the first time ever, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has earned R4 crore in sponsorship from three major sponsors: ONGC, Samsung and Amul, while some athletes are also backed and sponsored by companies.

Sahara, which is supporting 94 Indian athletes, has doubled its sponsorship amount for Indian hockey. Abhijit Sarkar, head of corporate communications for Sahara, had told FE recently: ?As many as 94 Indian athletes are supported by the Sahara India Pariwar. We have always stood by them and now that Indian Olympic sport is on a high, it is only natural that we will do all we can to facilitate their preparations and help them realise their Olympic dream. Importantly, we have backed these athletes for a long time now and feel the support is surely going to give the country dividends at London 2012.?

The Tatas, who have an Olympic history going back to the 1920s, have invested heavily in athletes like Deepika Kumari, who has a very good chance of creating history for India in women?s archery at London.

Mittal Champions Trust (MCT), which identifies and supports talented Indian athletes, and was started by steel magnet LN Mittal and his son-in-law Amit Bhatia, has spent R40 crore in its operations since its inception in November, 2005.

On similar lines, Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ) is another major programme being run by former athletes and Olympians and other investors, which has spent around R8 crore in the last three years in training the 32 athletes in its fold.

“Interest in Olympic sports has grown considerably in India and that has started to rub off on the corporates as well. The awareness level among people about the London Olympics is high as compared to the earlier games. The movement is growing and corporates are supporting individual athletes in some cases and federations as well. IOA, too, is now spending a lot on the athletes. Although it might be small as of now, but the trend is unprecedented in India. We can safely say that it’s finally a good beginning and India can only get better and gain from here,” says Ruchika Batra, spokesperson for Samsung India. Samsung has been associated with the IOA since the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games. While Samsung declined to comment on the sponsorship amount, sources in the IOA say it’s to the tune of R1 crore, with similar amounts being paid by ONGC and Amul.

Samsung has also been running its ‘Olympic Ratna’ programme, through which it provides a scholarship for high potential sportspersons, which for the 2012 Olympic Games has eight sportspersons?shooters Abhinav Bindra, Gagan Narang, Ronjan Sodhi and Manavjit Singh Sandhu; boxers MC Mary Kom, Vikas Krishan Yadav, Laishram Devendro Singh, and ace archer Deepika Kumari. Samsung has also announced that it will reward all the medal winners with R20 lakh for a gold medal, R15 lakh for a silver and R10 lakh for a bronze.

State-run ONGC, which is the principal sponsor of the 81-member contingent, has also announced similar rewards?R25 lakh for gold, R15 lakh for silver and R10 lakh for bronze. ?There has been a growth in interest as far as Olympics are concerned. We look at it as a great opportunity, not just for marketing and sponsorship, but also as a cause. We are also the employers of many participating athletes and hence we feel we have an important role to play in the future of the Olympic movement as well as the future of sports in India,? says ONGC spokesperson SK Jha. Of the 81-member strong Indian delegation, ONGC is sending the largest contingent of 16 players to the London Olympics?13 players for the main London Olympics and three for Paralympics.

But couldn’t the IOA have raised more money than just R4 crore? VK Malhotra, president of the IOA, responds, “When Samsung approached us for the games again, we thought of inviting other sponsors as well who would be interested in partnering with us. We did realise that R1 crore per sponsor would be too low and were thinking of having an open bid for sponsorships. But then the committee decided that since it is the first time we are getting some corporate interest, we should allow them to participate at the same level. But from the next major event onwards, IOA will most probably go for open bidding for sponsorship spots.”

Malhotra adds that while corporate houses are warming up to Olympic sports, it’s still a long way away from the kind of participation he would like to see. “The media, too, has some hype about India’s hopes at the Olympics this time and the event in general and that is good, as this could tomorrow translate into bigger things,” he says. The IOA has announced that all the money raised in sponsorship will be spent on the contingent and the athletes who will be representing the nation in London in a few days time, and none whatsoever will be kept by the association.

For Viren Rasquinha, former India captain in hockey and an Olympian himself who now dons the hat of the CEO of OGQ, there is encouraging corporate interest in the Olympic sports, and he feels it will only get better with time. “There is a feeling and a buzz around the London games that India is on the verge of a major Olympic breakthrough. Over the past few years some of our athletes have given inspirational performances while competing against the best in the world. In the build up to the London games, there have been some great performances and I wouldn’t be wrong in saying that this year, India might just end up with its best medal tally ever. Also, what is adding to the buzz is the fact that the packaging and marketing of the games is way better than before, when it used to be almost non-existent,” he says.

Rasquinha tells FE that as many as 15 corporates are supporting OGQ through donations, including the likes of Bajaj Foundation, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala Foundation and Gaja Capital. OGQ’s operating budget for FY2011-12 was R3 crore. He identifies two major areas which need attention: packaging and marketing of the sport by the respective federation, and the need for more Olympic heroes and role models to generate interest and awareness.

Manisha Malhotra, CEO of MCT, agrees. “In India, corporate interest in sports is lopsided in cricket’s favour because it is the only sport that has managed to package a good entertainment model so far. The sports associations don’t market their respective sports, which would attract a lot of corporates to come in,” she says. Both Rasquinha and Malhotra feel that federations need to make their operations and functioning transparent, professional and accountable.

However, not everyone is looking at the trend as holding a great promise. Shailendra Singh, joint MD, Percept, says the trend shouldn’t be made to look bigger than what it really is. “Corporate interest as well as contribution to Olympic sports in India is still insignificant. It’s still viewed as more of charity or a CSR effort. Our companies and businesses are very return-on-investment (ROI) centric and there is a lack of vision among companies here. We ourselves went to a lot of corporates to get sponsorships and deals, but hardly anyone is interested. We are also the exclusive marketing agents for the Indian boxing federation and there too it has been extremely difficult to get corporates on board, despite the fact that boxing since the last Olympics and Commonwealth Games has become much more popular in India than it used to be,” he says. Percept represents nine members of the Indian contingent, including Vijender Singh and Sushil Kumar.

“Vikas Krishnan is one of the best bets for India at London 2012…one of our best medal hopes and it’s a fact known for a while. But no one shows interest even in him. That way only Vijender Singh and Sushil Kumar are success stories from the Olympics and that too just relatively,” Singh adds.

While Rasquinha agrees that the support as of now is mostly viewed as a CSR, things are surely changing. “As we get more Olympic heroes and more role models, it will become a much more viable marketing tool for corporates. It’s a great base and a foundation on which we need to build upon. If things stay on track, you’ll see a lot of commercial involvement in the time to come,” he says optimistically.

With inputs from Express sports bureau