The throw of 87.58 meters in the javelin final at the Tokyo Olympics became career-defining for Neeraj Chopra. His popularity has soared through the roof, with many considering him the new poster boy of sports in India. This is also helping on the financial front, with Neeraj's brand endorsement fees reportedly increasing by 1000 percent, as per TNN. That makes Virat Kohli arguably being the only Indian sportsperson with more brand value than him.?
Neeraj was believed to be making Rs 15-25 lakh per endorsement yearly before the Games. He is now in talks to sign new deals worth 10 times more. Experts say this rise in endorsement value is unparalleled in the Indian sporting spectrum.
In comparison, Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohl is presently the only sportsperson in the country to be charging a fee in the region of INR 1 to 5 crore. With the rise in his endorsement fees, Neeraj also comes in the same bracket, though only slightly lower than Kohli. This hike, however, does put him ahead of other cricketing stars like Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul who reportedly charge between Rs. 50 lakh to Rs. 1 crore per year.?
According to Economic Times, JSW Sports, who manage Neeraj, are in talks regarding five or six deals with luxury auto and apparel brands which could be finalised in the next few weeks and a series of digital-only pacts. In fact, deals with existing brands like Nike, sports drink Gatorade, ExxonMobil and MuscleBlaze sports supplements are also set to be revised at higher prices.
¡°These are multi-year deals which will run up to the Paris Olympics,¡± Mustafa Ghouse, chief executive of JSW Sports, told Economic Times. ¡°While we have requests from close to 80 brands, Neeraj has a limited number of free days between training camps in India and abroad over the next 12-14 months, so we have to be selective about signing on brands.¡±?
The ace athlete, however, has made up his mind over not endorsing alcohol or tobacco brands, Ghouse said.?
Chopra, who has 4 million followers on Instagram and nearly 600,000 on Twitter, saw his Insta following shoot up by more than 1.1 million in a single day after he bagged India's first Olympic medal in athletics. His popularity has grown leaps and bounds since the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and considering he is only 23 years old, the Indian sporting spectrum has a lot more to see from Neeraj Chopra.?