New Delhi: Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli can earn up to Rs 2 crore for a sponsored post on Instagram while former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni can earn about Rs 88 lakh per post, according to a new study.
The study by cricket website Cricket Bet India published Wednesday looked at the earnings of Indian and international players from the Indian Premier League (IPL) via endorsements made on their Instagram accounts. It used the advertising rates on the social media platform to estimate who has the most valuable profile.
Kohli, who is also the captain of IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), has a massive 80 million followers on Instagram, and therefore could earn about £246,064 (Rs 2,33,33,894) for every sponsored post.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain Dhoni, who has 30.1 million followers, could earn £93,289 (Rs 88,47,748) per post and £140,404 (Rs 1,33,18,670) for each video posted to promote brands.
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Kohli 66th richest sportsman in the world
According to the Forbes 2020 rich list, Kohli earned almost Rs 172 crore in the past year. Of this, Rs 17 crore was earned in salary and winnings while Rs 155 crore was made through endorsements. He is the 66th richest sportsman in the world.
Kohli promotes several brands on his social media pages and the study reveals that for each video promoting a brand he can receive upto £370,334 (over Rs 3 crore). This makes him the most valuable IPL player in terms of social media earnings.
Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya, from the Mumbai Indians, are the next two players who receive high amounts for their Instagram posts. They can earn about Rs 42 lakh and Rs 36 lakh per post, respectively.
CSK’s Suresh Raina also earns about Rs 34 lakh per post and Rs 51 lakh per sponsored video.
South African player A.B. De Villiers and David Warner from Australia are the highest-earning international cricketers currently playing in the IPL, earning £34,455 (over Rs 32 lakh) and £13,002 (over Rs 12 lakh), respectively.
However, despite Kohli’s popularity and marketability, he remains way below top sportsmen across the world in terms of Instagram worth.
Portuguese football player Cristiano Ronaldo has 239.5 million followers on Instagram, which means his sponsored posts are worth a whopping Rs 6 crore, while Argentina’s Lionel Messi is valued at Rs 4 crore per sponsored post.
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