Sachin Tendulkar Still Raking in the Bucks After Retirement

Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar hung up his gloves 6 years ago, but he is still a lucrative target for endorsements. He is currently valued at Rs 40 crore and overtook third placed PV Sindhu in the highest paid endorsers’ list. He is only behind India skipper Virat Kohli and Chennai Super Kings captain, MS Dhoni.

According to reports, Sachin Tendulkar was the poster man of 10 brands in 2018. The likes of UNICEF, BMW, Luminous, Smartron, GM Pens, Aster Pharmacy, DBS Bank, Sony Ten, Smash and Quaker used him for promotional purposes.

According to Tendulkar’s team, his annual fee has gone up four-fold in the last five years. Another aspect that grew was the brand associations’ aggregate value inspite of the reduction in the number endorsing Sachin Tendulkar.

According to business head Vinit Karnik of ESP Properties, “Sachin is a cricketing legend, moreover, he is also an inspiration to the masses for his off-field conduct and gestures. This role model image of Sachin is what attracts advertising dollars.”

Even Tendulkar himself was not sitting idle and set up a management company called SRT Sports Management. He launched an app through SRT spent time brainstorming what the brand represents.

“We went back to the fundamentals of brand planning. This meant talking to his fans and followers and understanding what Sachin stands for (in their minds) now that he is off the playing field. We did the same with brand partners to understand how they relate to the personality,” said Mrinmoy Mukherjee, CEO of SRT Sports Management.

According to Mukherjee, the Sachin Tendulkar Brand does not encapsulate the game of cricket as a whole. Instead, it touches upon health and fitness due to his passion for the subject. Sachin Tendulkar is of the opinion that India needs to play sports rather than simply watching them.