Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli ranks ahead of the likes of Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi and NBA team Golden State Warriors’ Steph Curry when it comes to brand value. The right-handers brand value of $14.5 million takes him in the top 10 list revealed by Forbes and has him alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, Roger Federer and co.
Already named as the World’s Highest Paid Cricketer and among the highest paid athletes in the world, Kohli has gone strength-to-strength in his rise and continues to notch money as he does runs on the cricket field. On the field, he recently went past Ricky Ponting to bring up his 31st century – second most in ODI cricket and only behind Sachin Tendulkar.
As per the list, Kohli stands seventh in brand value which takes into account an athlete’s earnings (excluding salary and bonus from their sport and all investment income), minus the average income of the top 10 athletes in the same sport. Federer leads the pack with $37.2 million with LeBron James ($33.4 million) and Usain Bolt ($27 million) making the podium.
World’s Most Valuable sports brands
Events (Revenue per event per day)
1. Super Bowl – $663m
2. Summer Olympics – $419m
3. Winter Olympics – $285m
4. FIFA World Cup – $229m
5. NCAA Final Four – $228m
6. WrestleMania – $195m
7. UCL – $185m
8. College Football Playoffs – $176m
9. Daytonna 500 – $140m
10. MLB World Series – $124m
Businesses (The amount the enterprise value of the sports business exceeds the average enterprise value of comparable businesses)
1. Nike $29.6b
2. ESPN $15.8b
3. Adidas $7.9b
4. Sky Sports $5.5b
5. Under Armour $4.4b
6. MLBAM $2.4b
7. UFC $2b
8. YES Network $1.4b
9. Reebok $800m
10. NESN – $650m
Athletes (An athletes brand value is their earnings (excluding salary and bonus from their sport and all investment income), minus the average income of the top 10 athletes in the same sport)
1. Roger Federer $37.2m
2. LeBron James $33.4m
3. Usain Bolt $27m
4. Cristiano Ronaldo $21.5m
5. Phil Mickelson $19.6m
6. Tiger Woods $16.6m
7. Virat Kohli $14.5m
8. Rory McIlroy $13.6m
9. Lionel Messi $13.5m
10. Steph Curry $13.4m
Teams (A team’s brand value is the portion of its enterprise value attributable to local revenue streams like television, advertising, merchandise and tickets, that exceeds what a typical team in the same sport generates)
1. Dallas Cowboys $896m
2. New York Yankees $688m
3. Los Angeles Lakers $595m
4. Manchester United $564m
5. Barcelona $537m
6. New England Patriots $518m
7. Real Madrid $510m
8. New York Knicks $505m
9. Boston Red Sox $458m
10. Chicago Cubs $457m
