Endorsement enigma in cricket: Why brands pay Smriti Mandhana less than Virat Kohli?

There is a substantial difference in the endorsement fees of women and men cricketers.

On the field, the pay gap has been bridged for women cricketers but there is one more area where they are yet to see pay parity and that is the endorsement space, which contributes significantly to any cricketer's overall income.

Today, a top female cricketer is paid half of what a top male cricketer earns through endorsements.

The difference in the number of endorsement deals between top male and female cricketers is substantial, said Bandana Chhetri, Co-Founder, FairPlay Sports.

Established male cricketers typically command between Rs 3 to Rs 6 crore per annum for a brand endorsement, while the emerging ones charge between Rs 2 to Rs 3 crore per annum, pointed out Aviral Jain, Managing Director, Valuation Advisory Services, Kroll.

Now, this fee range drops to Rs 1 to Rs 2 crore per annum when it comes to successful female cricketers, he said.

"Someone like Virat Kohli earns upwards of Rs 5 crore, but a lot of other upcoming cricketers earn anywhere between Rs 1 to 3 crore per endorsement. Whereas someone like Smriti Mandhana or Harmanpreet Kaur earn anywhere between Rs 40 lakh to Rs 75 lakh," said Santosh N, managing partner of D&P Advisory.

For some deals, it is estimated that Mandhana's endorsement fee goes up to Rs 1 crore.

Many of the top female cricketers' endorsement fee is in line with the brand fee of entry-level male cricketers.

On the other hand, when it comes to brand deals, few successful female cricketers like Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur have managed to build healthy endorsement portfolios across industries like emerging male cricketers like Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant, said Jain.

Commercial call

So, why the big gap in endorsement fees? One of the main reasons is that male cricketers are more recognised than their female counterparts, said Abhishek Jain, CEO of Prime Table Tennis League, who added that men’s cricket is aired so much on daily television that it becomes difficult to ignore any player.

"Male cricketers are decorated and the fan following is huge since the 1980s which reached an altogether a new level in the 1990s when Sachin (Tendulkar) was at his peak. This trend has continued with (MS) Dhoni and (Virat) Kohli in the 2000s and 2010s. Womens’ cricket has just started getting recognition and I am sure the gap will narrow down in the next few years," said Santosh.

More than a gender pay issue, it appears to be a commercial call of the marketers given the relative size of the customer segments addressed and expected traction, said Kroll's Jain. "The situation is similar when we compare the brand fees of cricketers with the sportspersons from other fields."

He also explained that a celebrity’s brand is typically driven by its fame and recognition and objectively reflected in factors such as brand associations, social media presence and level of engagement with their followers among others, said  Kroll's Jain. Further for cricketers, their relative on-field performance and consistency across formats is also critical for success in the endorsement world.

"In a cricket-crazy country like India, cricketers often serve as an influential figure for customers and become a preferred choice for brand endorsements due to the traction they generate. However, when it comes to women’s cricket, it still has a lot of catching up to do given the relatively much lower viewership and fan following," he added.

Women cricketers also face competition from Bollywood actresses because of their high reach, social media following and that they are easily recognizable, Prime Table Tennis League's Jain said.

Bridging the gap

Women's Premier League (WPL) has been a game changer for female cricketers who have been able to bag endorsements with more brands taking note of their on-field performance.

"With the emergence of events like the WPL and the increasing popularity of the women's cricket team, we've observed a growing interest from brands in female athletes for yearly endorsements or digital association," Chhetri said.

She said that brands prioritise market appeal and the commercial value of an athlete. "To bridge the endorsement gap, like the BCCI's equal pay initiative, it will require enhancing the marketability of female athletes to match their male counterparts."

In 2022, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had announced equal pay for men and women cricketers with test match fees at Rs 15 lakh, Rs 6 lakh for one day international (ODI)  and Rs 3 lakh for T20 International. BCCI secretary Jay Shah had tweeted saying that pay equity was his commitment to the women cricketers.

"BCCI has done what they could do and what is in their control. The brands when deciding the player they want to team up with, will look at many factors including ROI (return on investment) on the money spent, target audience, etc. Until they see value in working with women cricketers, the gap is going to exist," Santosh said.

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