A number of sources from India’s advertising industry confirmed that they are currently in talks with Bindra about representing their brands. Bindra has so far only been associated with Samsung and the Sahara Group, but his value is now-expected to sky-rocket. While some estimate he could charge up to US$500,000 per endorsement, a source told Media that a range of $100,000 to $150,000 is more realistic. “I would put the annual figure at $1 million to $1.5 million”.
Interested brands are believed to include Olympic sponsors with a major presence in India, such as Coca-Cola and McDonald’s. “The other advertisers who should try to leverage are homegrown brands like Tata and Bajaj,” added the source. “Because of the nature of the sport, [the key characteristics] are precision, accuracy, consistency and youth.”
The figures quoted would put Bindra in the middle-tier of Indian endorsement deals, in a country where cricket superstars can rack up tens of millions of dollars per year.
