Sourav Ganguly has overtaken his old teammate and good friend Sachin Tendulkar in endorsement values. The former Indian captain now earns more endorsement money from a single brand than what Sachin Tendulkar does. The figures were stated in a report by Rediff.com. This takes him to the top of the list of cricketers earning the most money from brand endorsements after retirement.
According to the report, Ganguly charges 1 to 1.5 crore rupees for a 4-5 day engagement with a brand in a year. This is reportedly a higher amount than what Sachin Tendulkar charges these days. Ganguly currently endorses various national, as well as regional brands in his home state of West Bengal. The cricketer has also become a television celebrity due to his hosting of the popular Bengali quiz show ‘Dadagiri’. He has also recently become the ambassador of DTDC’s latest campaign, as well as Tata’s Tetley tea.
Speaking on Ganguly’s popularity with the brands, Indranil Das Blah, partner and COO at CAA KWAN, a sports and celebrity management company told Rediff, “Ganguly didn’t go into hibernation. Even after he retired from the IPL, he was involved through the CAB (Cricket Association of Bengal) and anchored TV shows. In Bengal he is as popular as some of the biggest movie stars from the state, so he makes sense for a lot of brands.”
Even though he is earning a large amount, Ganguly is still behind current Indian captain Virat Kohli and former skipper MS Dhoni, who charge 8-12 crores to endorse a single brand.