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Purvita Chatterjee

Mumbai, Feb. 2 With brands turning cautious on ad spends in the wake of the economic slowdown, it is unlikely that tennis stars Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi would see a fresh line-up of endorsements, despite the duo clinching the mixed doubles finals at the Australian Open tennis tournament.

Sports marketing agencies are sceptical on this score, although the Mahesh Bhupathi-owned agency — Globosport — is still hopeful about the line up of endorsements getting stronger for these two tennis players. “With all due credit to these two players, in today’s times, there will not be a move or a shake in the endorsement market as a result of their win. They will not see a new line up of brands outside their door,” says Mr Suvrangsu Mukherjee, Managing Director, Total Sports Asia.

In fact, most sports marketers feel that even in the past, when there have been mixed doubles victory in tennis, there has hardly been an upsurge in endorsement deals. Besides, it is still cricket which rules as far as endorsements are concerned. “I doubt this victory will go down as one where endorsement demand will go up. In today’s times, none of the clients will be willing to pay the market price for endorsements,” observes Mr Anand Yalvigi, General Manager, Havas Sports.

According to market estimates, Sania Mirza would be in a position to command a maximum rate of Rs 50 lakh per year with brands such as Sprite, Deutsche Bank, Adidas, Tata Tea and GVK Industries. Her marketing agency is Globosport, where Mr Mahesh Bhupathi is a majority shareholder along with others.

In fact, for Mahesh Bhupathi, who is already an entrepreneur, his past victories in doubles has not exactly helped his endorsement deals, although today he does stand for brands such as Nike, Bengal Peerless and Apollo Tyres.

According to Mr Anirban Das Blah, Vice-President, Globosport, “Mahesh Bhupathi is already managing two full-fledged careers and has to find time when more endorsements come up. As long as people approach him with the right brand and at the right price, he would take up more endorsements.”

Meanwhile, according to Mr Das, Sania Mirza has already been awarded endorsement of two new brands in the past few months. “There are two new brands in the foods and automotive sector which will be announced by the respective companies who have chosen Sania to endorse their brands in the last three months. After all, the market conditions are always relative and have not affected certain consumer categories. Sania has a big year ahead with a line up of brands,” claims Mr Das.

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