Olympic champ Neeraj Chopra clocks 10-fold jump in ad fee to join cricket stars in big league

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Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra’s endorsement fee for corporate brands has jumped 10-fold after his gold medal winning javelin throw at the Tokyo Olympics and brought him into the big league that top cricketers rule.</p>
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According to a report in leading financial daily The Economic Times, Neeraj has at least 80 brands chasing him, including top auto and apparel companies, for advertisements. But his hectic training schedule puts a limit on the number he can take up.</p>
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The Olympic star used to charge Rs 15 to 20 lakh for an advertisement before the Tokyo Games, which is now expected to go up to Rs 1.5 to 2 crore or even more. The athlete is reported to have more than 4 million followers on Instagram and close to 6 lakh on Twitter.</p>
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JSW Sports, the agency that handles his endorsement deals, informed The Economic Times that Neeraj’s existing deals with companies such as Nike are expected to be renewed at the higher rates.</p>
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He is reported to have already signed deals with online education giant Byju’s and Tata AIA Life Insurance at the new rates.</p>
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JSW Sport is also reported to have informed companies that associated themselves with Neeraj Chopra’s medal winning moment on social and digital media to remove their ads as they do not have a contract with the athlete.</p>
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This had also happened in the case of badminton star PV Sindhu when the agency handling her endorsement deals had said it would have to issue a legal notice.</p>