File image of Neeraj Chopra at Paris Olympics 2024.© AFP
Neeraj Chopra continues to rise. He is now a household name, boasting a gold and a silver medal in his Olympics career, giving him the best medal cabinet for an Indian athlete competing in individual events. Chopra's meteoric rise is set to continue in 2024 and beyond, despite missing out on gold in Paris 2024. In fact, Neeraj Chopra's brand endorsements portfolio is set to grow by 50% in the ongoing calendar year, as per a report by Moneycontrol.
Star Indian cricketers Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma expectedly lead the way in terms of sportspersons in India with the highest brand value. However, Neeraj, who already rubs shoulders in that regard with some of the high-profile cricketers, is set to exceed some more.
Neeraj presently endorses 21 brands across 24 different categories, according to the Moneycontrol report, which adds that Hardik Pandya has a portfolio of 20 brands.
The report says Chopra endorsement portfolio may reach 32-34 names by the 2024-end, more than several top cricketers.
"Currently, we are talking to about six to eight brands to discuss endorsement," said Divyanshu Singh, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of JSW Sports, the company that manages Chopra's portfolio.
"We are seeing a jump in his brand value by close to 40 to 50 percent but he's already got a very, strong foundation, which will only get better from here. His endorsement fee has seen a 40 to 50 percent jump. Until about last year, he was doing all his endorsements at about Rs 3 crore per year. Now that number would touch about Rs 4 to 4.5 crore per year, and that's the kind of growth we are seeing," Singh said.
Neeraj currently endorses brands like American sportswear company Under Armour, luxury watchmaker Omega, Gillette and Samsung among others.
Apart from Neeraj, badminton star PV Sindhu and recently retired football icon Sunil Chhetri rank in the upper echelons of Indian sportspersons who have a high brand value, but are not cricketers.
Neeraj was one of the favourites for a gold medal in javelin throw at the Paris Olympics 2024, having won gold in Tokyo 2020. However, Chopra's 89.45m throw - although the second-best of his career - was only good enough for silver, as Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem threw an Olympic record 92.97m to clinch gold.