Indian badminton ace PV Sindhu has signed a record sponsorship deal with Chinese sports brand Li Ning worth a whopping Rs 50 crores. This will be Sindhu’s second stint with the company as she had an initial sponsorship deal with the company in place between 2014-15.
Sindhu is the second high-profile player with whom the Chinese sports giants have struck up a deal within the span of the past few months. The company signed up with Kidambi Srikanth last month for a period of 4 years in a deal believed to be around the 35 crore mark.
Li Ning have also roped in Kidambi Srikanth on a four-year deal. (Source: Instagram)
Speaking on the deal, Mahender Kapoor, director, Sunlight Sports Pvt Ltd, the multi-national exclusive partner of Li Ning India told PTI:
Sindhu’s deal is one of the biggest in world badminton. It is close to Rs 50 crore for sponsorship and equipment. It will be a deal which is very close to Puma’s deal with Indian cricketer Virat Kohli in terms of yearly sponsorship. Sindhu will get Rs 40 crore as sponsorship while the rest will be for equipment, so it is close to Rs 50 crore.”
Indeed it is one of the biggest sponsorship deals in the history of Indian sports. Currently, Virat Kohli the captain of the Indian cricket team has the biggest deal in his kitty with Puma. In 2017, he had signed an 8-year deal with Puma worth Rs 100 crores which came down to around Rs 12.5 crores per year.
Before re-signing with Li Ning, Sindhu had a deal in place with Yonex since 2016, believed to be worth around Rs 3.5 crores per year.
Along with Sindhu and Srikanth, Li Ning has also roped in Parupalli Kashyap on a two-year deal worth around 8 crores.
