Cricket Feature: How big is the Virat Kohli brand in the world?

That isn’t true just in the modern world but has been confirmed for decades as marketers and advertisers cash in on the popularity of sportspeople to shill more products. 

And, given his presence in several ads, it is safe to say that the Indian cricket superstar Virat Kohli is quite clearly a brand of himself. 

Indeed, while his brand value across the board dipped in 2022, he remains the most marketable Indian celebrity. 

His current brand value is estimated to be around $185.7 million, nearly $30 million more than the person in second place – Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh. 

However, how does Brand Virat Kohli compare to that athletes around the world? The short answer is that it pales in comparison to sports stars across the globe. 

Indeed, it is telling that Kohli doesn’t feature anywhere on the Forbes top 10 lists for highest-paid athletes in the year 2022. 

And, while he has occasionally flashed up on the Forbes list in the top 50, he doesn’t earn anywhere near as much as people from other sports. 

Football stars Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Neymar are consistent features on such lists, as are the likes of basketball star LeBron James. 

The likes of boxing star Canelo Alvarez and recently-retired tennis star Roger Federer also make it onto the list – the latter’s case being even more remarkable given he didn’t play a match in 2022 until his farewell game at the Laver Cup. 

Boxing, however, has one thing going for that cricket does not – multi-million-dollar purses for a single fight, especially if you are at the top of your game. 

Alvarez is a multi-title holder and is considered the best pound-for-pound pugilist in the sport. Hence, his position is also understandable. 

Football is the most popular sport in the world, meaning it will always produce high-paying stars – especially in the case of Messi and Ronaldo if they are generational talents. 

So, where does Kohli fit in here? Again, it is hard to tell. He is undoubtedly popular among Indians worldwide, and his social media follower count reflects that. 

But the simple truth is that his financial numbers are pale compared to sports stars worldwide. And this is down to nothing else but the limited appeal of the sport of cricket. 

Remember, cricket is a sport whose main format – Test cricket – is played by only 12 nations, two of whom recently got full-time membership. 

There’s also the fact that cricket – a complicated sport with many technicalities and rules – isn’t meant for mass appeal. 

So Kohli’s brand value will always remain high – but it will always be limited by the fact that he plays a popular sport only in certain pockets of the world.