India’s historic double triumph at the Chess Olympiad in Budapest—winning both the men’s and women’s crowns—has triggered a scramble among sports talent firms vying to sign the young stars to pitch them to companies for sponsorships and endorsement deals. Only one of them have formal agency representation currently.
“We want to onboard a few of these chess players in our roster. Ever since India hosted the Chess Olympiad in Chennai in 2022, there has been a massive boom in the sport,” said Rahul Trehan, chief executive of IOS Sports, which represents two-time Paris Olympics medallist Manu Bhaker, boxer Mary Kom and table tennis player Manika Batra, among others.
The chess players shot to prominence after winning three team gold medals—in the open section, the women’s category and the overall section—in addition to four individual golds. The latter were won by D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, Divya Deshmukh and Vantika Agrawal.
Executives said the dominance of these players at an Olympiad that had players from over 180 nations calls for serious sponsorships and valuation. However, players themselves should also be willing to onboard agencies, another executive said.
“The chess players have performed an amazing feat and ideally brands should come forward and support them,” said Tuhin Mishra, co-founder of Baseline Ventures, which manages badminton player Lakshya Sen and former wrestler Vinesh Phogat.
“We just hope brands have a long-term perspective.”
Despite significant gaps in valuations and endorsement deals with cricket, the Paris Olympics saw a record surge in Indian brands signing sponsorship or partnership deals for other sports, including companies such as Radico Khaitan, Dream Sports, Amul, Bharat Petroleum Corp and the Adani Group.
“Brands look for consistent performance and visibility,” said an executive at a large sports management agency. “However, in the case of the winning chess champions, we are looking to unlock their valuations, since these players have shown mettle, are young, and have long careers ahead of them.”
Anand Mahindra, chairman of Mahindra Group, has been among the prominent names to have congratulated the winning team. He wrote on social media platform X: “It’s official now. The Crown belongs to India.”
“We want to onboard a few of these chess players in our roster. Ever since India hosted the Chess Olympiad in Chennai in 2022, there has been a massive boom in the sport,” said Rahul Trehan, chief executive of IOS Sports, which represents two-time Paris Olympics medallist Manu Bhaker, boxer Mary Kom and table tennis player Manika Batra, among others.
The chess players shot to prominence after winning three team gold medals—in the open section, the women’s category and the overall section—in addition to four individual golds. The latter were won by D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, Divya Deshmukh and Vantika Agrawal.
Executives said the dominance of these players at an Olympiad that had players from over 180 nations calls for serious sponsorships and valuation. However, players themselves should also be willing to onboard agencies, another executive said.
“The chess players have performed an amazing feat and ideally brands should come forward and support them,” said Tuhin Mishra, co-founder of Baseline Ventures, which manages badminton player Lakshya Sen and former wrestler Vinesh Phogat.
“We just hope brands have a long-term perspective.”
Despite significant gaps in valuations and endorsement deals with cricket, the Paris Olympics saw a record surge in Indian brands signing sponsorship or partnership deals for other sports, including companies such as Radico Khaitan, Dream Sports, Amul, Bharat Petroleum Corp and the Adani Group.
“Brands look for consistent performance and visibility,” said an executive at a large sports management agency. “However, in the case of the winning chess champions, we are looking to unlock their valuations, since these players have shown mettle, are young, and have long careers ahead of them.”
Anand Mahindra, chairman of Mahindra Group, has been among the prominent names to have congratulated the winning team. He wrote on social media platform X: “It’s official now. The Crown belongs to India.”
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