The Hindu Business Line : Rathore lands historic medal, but advertisers may not line up

MARKSMAN Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore may have created history in the Olympic Games by winning the first-ever individual silver medal for India, but sponsorship and advertising support are unlikely to come by for his sport — shooting — as cricket will continue to attract big bucks. Individually, if Rathore becomes a rage, he may bag some endorsements, the advertising industry feels.

The silver medal won by the 34-year-old Army man is not a mean achievement. Prior to this, Leander Paes and Karnam Malleswari had won bronze medals for tennis and weight-lifting respectively.

According to Mr Shailendra Singh, who heads Percept D' Mark, "We owned the sponsorship rights for the Indian Olympic contingent and for the last 11 months, none of the major advertisers were ready to sponsor the team. Towards the end, Sahara came to sponsor them.Therefore, I do not think that any other sport will be able to attract the kind of sponsorship that cricket attracts."

Advertising industry officials feel that advertisers are always looking for returns. "In the case of cricket, there are sure-shot returns. Therefore, the game receives so much support," says Mr Ajit Varghese, General Manager, South, Madison Advertising.

However, Rathore may, on his individual capacity, manage to attract some endorsements. "If Rathore is able to becomes a household name in the next few weeks like Kalpana Chawla, he may be able to catch the eye of advertisers. So, it will all depend on the hype that will be generated," adds Mr Atul Phadnis, Vice-President, TAM India.

Currently, cricketing icons like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid or even Irfan Pathan have been able to sew sponsorship deals running into crores. However, other sports personalities have not been able to generate much interest.

But for now, Rathore will get the Rs 50 lakh promised by the Union Government to any individual winning a silver medal, besides some awards given by State-level bodies to winners.