Daredevils banks on Yuvi to score sponsorship points

Brand and celebrity managers say that Singh's addition to Delhi Daredevils will improve its sponsorship deals by 15-20 per cent. His own fate will only look up if he performs in the initial phase

All-rounder Yuvraj Singh's Rs 16 crore haul from the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015 auctions, is expected to give Delhi Daredevils, which snapped him up, a boost off the field as well. The cricketer's name could help his team charge a premium from its sponsors.

Of course, Singh's own future in endorsements would depend on his performance in the tournament. Singh made it to the headlines as the sum Delhi Daredevils paid for him was the highest a team paid for a player in the history of the tournament. Brand experts say that the flamboyant southpaw has given the team an edge in negotiations with sponsors.

"Teams choose players based on both their on-field and off-field impact. As an icon player, Yuvraj has both. He is a good T-20 player. Having him will definitely give the Daredevils a chance to command a premium when getting brands on broad," says Indranil Das Blah, chief operating officer, CAA KWAN, a sports marketing and management agency.

Industry estimates peg the expected premium at around 15 to 20 per cent of what the team would have been able to corner without Singh. Delhi Daredevils has McDowell's No.1, RBL Bank and Kama Sutra as associate partners and Kingfisher and Pepsi as licensee partners. Estimates also peg Delhi Daredevils' sponsorship revenues in the 2014 season at Rs 30 to 35 crore.

The team has made it clear that it wanted Singh as its icon player at all cost, and hence, aggressively outbid other teams that vied for him. Singh's stock is in sharp contrast to the 'player of the year' in IPL 2014, Sri Lankan Kumara Sangakara, who was not sold in this year's auction.

"Indian players will always be more popular for bidding because of the four-player cap on overseas cricketers. When you can play only four overseas players in a match, it is logical that teams would turn to Indian players when it comes to the icon player. So, even if he was not been selected in the World Cup squad and had an okay IPL last year, Singh was still highly preferred," says a sports celebrity manager.

For Singh, this may be a turning point in his career as a brand endorser. He does not have any endorsement contracts now. Blah says that if Singh has a good outing in the initial two weeks of the IPL, offers may start pouring in.

"If he makes a comeback in the IPL, then brands will again look at signing him. He will then have the dual advantage of a great personal comeback (Singh is a cancer survivor) and a professional comeback, making him a good asset for any brand," says Blah.

A sports management executive says that while a good show could give him a boost in his endorsements, there is no chance of him reaching his peak popularity: "Yuvi's brand endorsement career will see a revival, but it will come at a cost. Earlier, he used to charge a brand Rs 4-6 crore a year. Now, he will probably be looking at annual fees in the range of Rs 1-1.5 crore".

This will put Singh in the same bracket as some of the current, younger players like Rohit Sharma (Rs 1.5 crore) and Shikhar Dhawan (Rs 1 crore).

It also means, that in the near future, there would not be any mid-range endorser from the cricketing world, who would be more bankable than Sharma and Dhawan but not as expensive as Dhoni and Kohli. Brands have to either pay big bucks (almost Rs 9-11 crore) for MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli or settle for Sharma and Dhawan, who, while popular, neither have a following like their captain and vice-captain nor the aura. But it would be very hard for Singh to fill the gap between the two tiers now.

Advertisers will look out for his performance on the field from April 8, when the 2015 edition of the IPL kicks off. In a way, IPL 2015 will reveal if there is still a spark left in his endorsement career.