Smriti Mandhana-led RCB's second WPL win to spark endorsement rush for star players

RCB win

• Smriti Mandhana's WPL win boosts her brand value and endorsement opportunities
• RCB women's players see sharp rise in social media followers and brand interest
• WPL success drives investor interest and more deals for women cricketers

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Smriti Mandhana led Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to their second Women's Premier League (WPL) title and brand experts expect more endorsements to land in the star players' kitty and advertisers to double down on women cricketers.

Given the scale of Smriti Mandhana’s existing brand equity, combined with the WPL title win again,  Anirudh Sridharan, Co-Founder, HashFame, a networking platform for Creators and Marketers, expects an uptick in Mandhana’s endorsement fees.

The win adds to the credibility of women’s cricket and strengthens their position from a commercial perspective especially as this has come at the back of a World Cup win, said Tuhin Mishra, MD & Co-Founder, Baseline Ventures.

Baseline Ventures exclusively represents Smriti Mandhana.

Champions again

RCB Women’s title win has triggered a sharp shift in fan behaviour, according to Qoruz, Creator Intelligence and Collaboration Platform.

Engagement rates for entire social media posts related to RCB jumped from a season average of 3 percent to 10 percent during and after the final, with early signals indicating a spike of 15 percent over the next 48 hours.

Top RCB women’s players recorded a combined Instagram follower growth of over 10 percent in the last 30 days, adding over 2.5 million new followers during the 2026 WPL season.

Smriti Mandhana gained 358,000 followers in the last 30 days with a social media following of 14.8 million.

The RCB skipper currently endorses 12-15 brands with couple more all set to be announced, Mishra said. "There’s definitely an increased interest since the Women’s World Cup win; we will also see a few more partnerships being announced in the coming days."

Most marketable face

She endorses more brands than any other women cricketer and even more brands than most male cricketers, noted Santosh N, managing partner at D&P Advisory Services, a valuation service provider.

Mandhana’s social pages show over 100 million views across posts and more than 65 million profile visits consistently over the last months, translating her strong on-ground performance to her off-field persona, Mishra noted. "This level of intent highlights not just passive scrolling but active interest and sustained attention from her fans and followers."

Sridharan called Mandhana one of the most marketable faces in Indian women’s cricket. A second WPL title win with RCB moves her from 'star player' to 'franchise legacy'.

Her brand value was already strong, but a second WPL title adds championship equity to her profile, said Rohit Agarwal, Founder & Director, Alpha Zegus, a gaming and lifestyle marketing agency.

Ajimon Francis, Managing Director India, Brand Finance is certain that Mandhana will have more endorsement deals and more social media following after this win.

WPL glory

"WPL has emerged into a brand of its own and not linked to IPL anymore. Stadiums are full, players are rocking and matches have nail-biting finishes. She will certainly have more endorsement deals and more social media following after this win," he added.

According to Agarwal, a winning franchise creates recall, narrative continuity and fan loyalty, all of which raise the commercial ceiling for players associated with that success.

"RCB is no longer a team that won once. It becomes a winning institution. That matters because franchises are long-term brand machines. Players benefit from more spotlight, stronger fan loyalty, better endorsement pull, higher negotiation power. Winning doesn’t just add a trophy. It adds narrative equity," Sridharan said.

Santosh pointed to investor interest for RCB with Moneycontrol reporting Ranjan Pai and Adar Poonawalla, as well as Swedish buyout firm EQT and Premji Invest, having submitted separate non-binding bids for Royal Challengers Sports Pvt Ltd (RCSPL), a unit of United Spirits.

"Investors chase opportunities, but it's proven results that unlock the floodgates of funding. In women's cricket, this plays out perfectly. Standout performances in WPL and Indian cricket in the last few years drew brands, sponsors, and skyrocketing valuations to the top players," he said.

He pointed to ChatGPT sponsorship. "One of the largest brands in AI associating with cricket for the first time and they picked WPL proving that new-age gender neutral brands are not hesitating to partner with WPL and women’s cricket."

Winning women cricketers

Along with Mandhana, other women players are also in the spotlight including Richa Ghosh.

Richa Ghosh, Sayali Satghare, Radha Yadav and Shreyanka Patil have already started getting good endorsement deals which is most likely to grow more, Francis said.

"In the 2026 WPL edition even international players Nadine de Klerk and Lauren Bell have made a huge impact on viewers and their social media handles will multiply in coming days and months. Add to this, they will get multiple contracts from other T20 leagues around the globe."

Qoruz data shows that mid-base players like Richa Ghosh and Radha Yadav delivered the best balance of scale and growth rate in terms of their social media following. Ghosh added 42,000 followers in the last 30 days with nearly a 9 percent growth rate in follower addition while Yadav added 63,000 with around 8 percent growth rate in social media following.

Among international players, Lauren Bell more than doubled her Instagram following in 30 days.

Georgia Voll saw a 42 percent jump, showing how breakout performances and WPL visibility drive sharp growth for emerging players.

Santosh gave examples of AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle who played for RCB for quite a few seasons and performed well. "We all saw how they became some of the most sought-after players among many Indian brands. This can repeat with Nadine De Klerk or Lauren Bell or Grace Harris. The other player who could benefit from this win is Shreyanka Patil," he added.

Francis said RCB girls winning in 2024 and now in 2026 is putting pressure on the boys squad.

Mishra expects a lot more brands from different industries to capitalise the moment as women’s cricket is the talk of the town.

Women’s cricket has moved from being event-driven to performance-driven, Agarwal noted. "Consistent visibility across WPL, internationals and global tournaments is making women cricketers commercially viable year-round, not just during marquee events. Brands are now seeing women athletes as long-term ambassadors, not moment-based endorsements."

Sridharan pointed out that earlier, women’s cricket saw brand spikes around World Cups and finals. "Now the WPL is building familiarity season after season. Brands invest when there’s continuity, repeat visibility, and heroes audiences follow regularly."

Like yesteryear stars like Mithali Raj or Jhulan Goswami have been saying, Women's Cricket is finally getting its due, Francis said.