Former Pro Athlete | Founder of Vetted Sports | Daily insights around sports, technology & investing
Here's the most popular athlete you've never heard of... Virat Kohli is an Indian cricketer and the former captain of the Indian national cricket team. He currently plays for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League India. Here are a few facts about his career: • He has 270M followers on Instagram (Ranked 16th on the global list of most-followed) • He's one of three Indian cricketers selected for the nation's A+ contracts (annual salary of $1M) • He's the first Indian athlete to sign a brand endorsement contract valued at ₹100 crore (with Puma) What's even crazier is that cricket is currently the second biggest sport in the world. And it's still largely untapped in the US. But this is slowly changing. Here are some facts about the growth of cricket in the US: • 30M fans in the US (2.5B+ fans globally) • 400 individual cricket leagues • Approximately 200,000 cricket players (and counting) in the US • $850M has been invested in Major League Cricket in the US The potential is enormous. Something to keep an eye on... 📥 For more updates about sports, business, and technology, join for free: https://lnkd.in/dUYVHG5y #sports #sportsbusiness #sportsmedia
Malcolm Lemmons “never heard of”????? Most people outside of the U.S. know Virat Kohli. So you probably should specific that most people in the U.S. have not heard of him. The guy is a mega star all over the Commonwealth countries and Asia.
As a cricket agent I love this. The US is such a growth area! What is striking about those numbers is not the followers or the fact that cricket is the second most popular sport in the world. It’s the fact that this guys contract is only $1mil a year. With players in the NBA, NFL, Baseball etc earning upwards of $50M a year cricket has a long way to go with the commercialisation of the sport!
Here's the most popular athlete you've never heard of... IF YOU LIVE IN THE US AND ARE NOT FROM AN IMMIGRANT FAMILY. Virat and Sachin are as big as Messi, Federer, and Jordan... in the global sports world.
Cricket already has fandom stateside that is comparable with many entrenched US Sports - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/andrew-marston_the-american-fairytale-continues-as-usa-beat-activity-7204771996579049473-wFIR?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios
Hi Malcolm Lemmons This is why we invested and built Liam Plunkett Cricket in the US. We are live now https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7214899646115033088/ But officially launch on the 27th Any sports brand, property or cricket fan that wants to join us let me know. This is just the start.
He’s one of the most followed athletes in history. He’s got 269M followers on IG.
Only Americans haven’t heard of him.
Welcome to cricket! You’ll love it!
And it starts with the T20 world cup bringing exposure to the US.
Former Pro Athlete | Founder of Vetted Sports | Daily insights around sports, technology & investing
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