Indian marketers bet big on sports sponsorship as audience gateway

According to the report, 94 per cent of marketers in India expect to raise spending on sponsorship and event media over the next 12 to 24 months.

No equivalent budget split was provided for India.India sees sports as a testing ground Beyond spending intentions, the report highlights how Indian marketers are interpreting sports sponsorship itself.

This gap matters because sponsorship and event media often sit across multiple touchpoints, from stadium branding and broadcast integrations to digital amplification and influencer tie-ins.

Within that, sports sponsorship spending alone was pegged at ₹7,943 crore, up 7 per cent year-on-year.

For Indian marketers, sponsorship and event media are increasingly part of a broader strategy that blends live experiences, audience testing, creator collaboration and brand storytelling.