India's Sports Market is Growing, But Not Everyone is Winning

India's sports industry reached a critical inflection point in 2025. The overall market expanded from ₹16,633 crore to ₹18,864 crore, a robust 13.4% growth. On the surface, this looks like a thriving ecosystem. But dig deeper, and you'll discover a market in transition, with clear winners and losers.

The Digital Gold Rush: Where the Real Money is Going

Here's what jumped out: media spending is up 19.8%, and within that, digital is absolutely crushing it at 24% growth. That's the fastest-growing piece of the entire sports industry. TV is still doing fine at 16.4% but let's be honest; digital is where the momentum is.

The reason? It's simple. Brands can actually track what's working. They can see who's clicking, who's watching, who's engaging. With streaming platforms and social media, you get real numbers. You know exactly what you're paying for. Compare that to a logo on a jersey that might reach a few thousand people in a stadium; suddenly the ROI math is way different.

And honestly, it makes sense. Everyone's watching matches on their phones now, not sitting in front of a TV. So of course advertisers are following the eyeballs. If I'm a brand manager and I'm trying to decide where to spend my budget, I'm going where I can measure impact.

Sponsorships Are Still There, But Not Growing Fast

Sponsorship spending is up 7%, that's real growth but it's not exciting. Ground sponsorships lead at 9.5%, then team sponsorships at 5.7% and franchise fees at 5.1%.

What this depicts is that brands still care about being visible at matches and on team jerseys. But they're being way more careful about it. They're not just throwing money at every franchise or property anymore. They're thinking strategically, picking their spots, making sure it actually connects with their target audience.

The old days of crazy franchise fee bidding wars seem to be cooling down. And maybe that's healthier for everyone.

The Cricket vs. Emerging Sports Divide: A Widening Gap

This is the part that would keep anyone up at night if they are working with any sport other than cricket. Cricket's market share went from 85% to 89%. Emerging sports? Down from 15% to 11%.

And it's not just about market share. When you look at sponsorship specifically, cricket grabbed 81% of all sponsorship money, up from 76%. For emerging sports, it dropped to 19%. That's brutal.

Athletes endorsing brands? 87% of that money is going to cricket players. Everyone else is fighting for 13%.

I get it. Virat Kohli or MS Dhoni can sell anything. A cricket match can pull 300 million viewers. But if you're trying to build something in football, wrestling or GT racing, you're fighting an uphill battle. The data isn't lying.

What This Means for the Industry Going Forward

Looking at all of this, a few things are clear:

• Digital isn't the future anymore: it's the present. If you're not thinking about how to drive engagement on YouTube, Instagram or streaming platforms, you're behind.

  
  

• Cricket is only getting more dominant. The concentration of sponsorship money there is real. It's getting harder for other sports to compete purely on a commercial basis.

  
  

• Brands want proof. They want metrics, engagement data and real audience numbers. Just slapping your logo on something doesn't cut it anymore.

The sports sponsorship space in India is growing, no doubt. But growth alone doesn't guarantee opportunity. It's about being smart about where you invest and understanding how the game has changed.

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At Rossco Sports, we see this shift happening every day. We work with cricket properties, but we're also building stories for emerging sports that need to punch above their weight.

The approach is different for each, but the underlying principle is the same: understand the market, find your angle and execute with precision.

Start your journey today!