His on-field performance and successful captaincy of the Gujarat Lions team in the Indian Premier League (IPL), leading to its maiden podium finish, has made Pandya a darling for brands.
Reliance Industries’ RISE Worldwide, which has been managing the commercial interest of Pandya since the last six years, has confirmed that his brand value has gone up by 30-40% in the last six months alone. We have a portfolio of 11 brands for Hardik, of which 8-9 have been long term partners. We have closed five new brands and will announce them over the next two months,” said Nikhil Bardia, head of sponsorships sales & talent, RISE Worldwide. “These include brands from personal care, media, beverage, footwear and apparel categories.” Overall, Bardia said Pandya will be endorsing close to 20 brands by the end of this year.
“He is the biggest and most inspirational comeback story both physically and emotionally. The biggest change you must have seen is in his personality. He has emerged as a leader with calmness, confidence and belief. We continue to build his brand with the right narrative and ideology. We are looking at more long-term deals and unlocking a 360-degree value with brands through face-time and digital engagement. To Hardik’s credit, he is focusing on his performance on the field and allowing us to do off-the-field part.”
While he refused to give details on the commercials, industry experts said Pandya is now charging anything between ₹1.5-2 crore per day for a minimum of two-day deals. All the deals are multi-year.
Some of the existing brands include boAT, Monster Energy, Gulf Oil and Dream11. Aman Gupta, co-founder, boAT, said, “Our partnership with Hardik has grown in the 5 years that we worked together and I see this relationship grow even stronger as partners in the years to come. He is also open to digital tactical promotions for close to ₹40 lakh. Last year, Pandya was seen along with Bollywood actors Anil Kapoor, Vikrant Massey, Shruti Haasan and Radhika Apte in Netflix India’s recreated version of the ‘Money Heist’ season 5 title track ‘Bella Ciao’.
The 28-year-old all-rounder has been part of India’s international squad since 2016 and is known for his swashbuckling ability to hit the ball, smart fast-medium bowling, and quick fielding. Pandya’s social media follower count has also seen a huge jump in the last six months, with him being the third most followed active Indian cricketer after
Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
