Gold Rush: What Neeraj Chopra’s win could mean for sportspeople from smaller towns 

Neeraj Chopra is probably having a golden time, justifiably so. Amid the hero’s welcome, public adulation, congratulatory messages and cash prizes from brands, the sole gold medal winner from the Indian contingent at the just-concluded Tokyo Olympics is probably also busy deciding which brands to endorse.

The 23-year-old Panipat-born athlete is reportedly flooded with offers from brands, many of them with 2-3 year deals extending up to the next Olympics. He has already endorsed Gillette India, Country Delight Naturals and Amstrad among others.

“He can expect a fair degree of secular interest from brands. Gone are the days when Olympics sportspersons of non-cricket lineage expect brand endorsements only from categories such as sports shoes and sport-related products,” says business and brand strategy specialist Harish Bijoor.

FMCG, durables, automobiles, possibly softer categories and certainly the startup space whether food delivery or bigger e-commerce players, etc, are likely to sign him up, he adds.

“There is also a bit of a herd mentality among Indian marketers, which is why the same Bollywood or cricket superstar endorses everything from infra materials to toothpaste,” says Abhijit Avasthi, founder of creative agency Sideways.

It’s just going to be a mad rush for Chopra and every brand will have their own justification -- some will look at him as the boy from a small town who made it big and somebody else will look at him as connecting with GenZ, he adds.

Chopra also has a lot going for him. He’s won an Olympic Gold medal, has an Army background, has been endorsing brands for four years now and has 3.2 million followers on Instagram.

It’s not just great for him, but also for the sport he represents and the sportspeople from smaller towns, experts say. This is despite javelin throw being a lesser-known sport with fewer events for audiences to engage with.

Apart from his commendable victory, the timing is also going to work towards what experts refer to as the democratisation of brand endorsements in favour of sportspersons from non-cricket backgrounds and smaller towns.

“India’s big success story of cricket started after we won the World Cup in 1983. So maybe he’ll help promote the sport and eventually it will add up (to bringing more sportspersons from other smaller towns and other sports into the spotlight),” says Avasthi.

It’s a different India today compared to when shooting champion Abhinav Bindra pulled off an equally impressive feat 13 years ago.

Social media is more all-pervasive today and smaller towns have been registering their clout. One only has to look at TikTok and YouTube videos for the talent overflowing from there, and the aggressive rates at which businesses are turning towards the smaller towns for growth.

And then there is the pandemic impact. Bijoor says consumers themselves are much more welcoming of completely new stars and there is a feeling of David vs Goliath in the market, where the goliaths are every cricket and Bollywood star. 

“To an extent, things have turned turtle where now Davids tend to rule. Particularly, during the indoor era of the pandemic, the dramatic relevance of the small star grew over the big star. Every Pankaj Tripathi was that much more powerful a player than an Amitabh Bachchan or a Shah Rukh Khan or Salman Khan.”

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