How Brands Can Win with India's Khelo Bharat 2025

Last week, I found myself watching a village-level kabaddi tournament in rural Maharashtra. The raw energy of the players, the passionate crowd, and the makeshift pavilion decorated with local brand banners told a story of sports at its most authentic level. One thought kept recurring: what if this grassroots enthusiasm could be channelled into something greater? 

As it happens, the government of India has been thinking along similar lines. The recently formulated Khelo Bharat Niti 2025 isn't just another policy document—it's a comprehensive blueprint for transforming India's sporting landscape from the ground up, with the ambitious vision of "Sports for Nation Building." 

A New Playing Field for Brands 

The policy stands on five robust pillars: achieving global excellence, leveraging sports for economic development, utilizing sports for social progress, making sports a people's movement, and aligning with the National Education Policy 2020. For forward-thinking brands, each pillar represents not just an opportunity but a gateway to meaningful connections with consumers in ways traditional marketing simply cannot match. 

Five Game-Changing Opportunities

 

1. The "Adopt a Dream" Framework: Structured Sponsorship with Soul 

Forget random logo placements. The policy introduces innovative funding mechanisms that encourage structured corporate participation through initiatives such as "Adopt an Athlete," "Adopt a District," "Adopt a Venue," "One Corporate-One Sport," and "One PSU-One State." 

Picture this: Your brand adopts not just an athlete but their entire journey. You're there when they train at dawn, when they face setbacks, and when they finally stand on the podium. That's a narrative arc customers can emotionally invest in—far beyond what a 30-second commercial could ever achieve. 

This approach is already in action—IndianOil recently welcomed World No. 1 para-archer Sheetal Devi into its sports fraternity, offering her not just sponsorship but comprehensive support throughout her athletic journey.   

2. Going Local: Community-Level Brand Building 

With the policy's emphasis on block-level sports programs and district leagues, brands can forge deep connections with specific regional markets. Supporting a district-level basketball tournament might seem small compared to sponsoring an IPL team, but community goodwill and authentic local engagement often deliver higher ROI in terms of brand affinity. The policy mentions explicitly organizing "sports festivals" at the community level—perfect opportunities for brands to become part of local cultural calendars.  

A standout example is Hindustan Unilever’s partnership with the ICC for women’s cricket, where Rexona and Dove became the ICC’s first dedicated commercial partners for the women’s game. Launching with the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 in India, this collaboration goes beyond major events—Rexona is driving grassroots participation through initiatives like the Flag Bearers program and women’s criiio festivals, while also supporting education on women’s hygiene. This approach empowers girls at the community level and accelerates the growth of women’s cricket across India. 

3. The Education Connection: Capturing Young Hearts and Minds 

As educational institutions become "feeder institutes" for sports development, a new sustained platform for youth engagement emerges. The integration of sports into formal education creates natural touchpoints for brands to connect with tomorrow's consumers. Consider sponsoring school-level sports quizzes or providing equipment for physical education programs. These initiatives help position your brand as an enabler of youth development rather than just another advertiser.

Bingo!, a popular snack brand from ITC, partnered with the All India Pickleball Association to promote pickleball across 23 states. By organizing college-level tournaments, Bingo! engages directly with students, embedding itself in educational spaces and positioning the brand as a genuine enabler of youth sports development rather than just a typical advertiser.  

4. The Tech Revolution: Innovation Beyond the Field 

The policy's focus on sports science, medicine, and technology opens exciting frontiers for tech-focused brands. The proposed Sports Innovation Task Force and Sports Startup & Entrepreneurship Accelerator Program will create ecosystems where technology companies can showcase their capabilities in performance analytics, injury prevention, nutrition, and mental conditioning. For tech brands, this isn't just sponsorship—it's a chance to demonstrate product capabilities in high-stakes, high-visibility environments. 

Pidilite’s Roff partnered with Pro Kabaddi League to showcase its “Magar ki Jakad” (crocodile grip) technology, aligning the brand’s core promise of strong, lasting bonds with the gripping tackles of kabaddi. Roff’s branding is integrated at key moments like the ‘Super Tackle’ segment, and its tagline is woven into commentary, making the technical strength of its adhesive both visible and contextually relevant to fans.  

5. The Olympic Dream: Building a Legacy 

Perhaps most ambitious is the policy's clear goal of positioning India as a global sports hub to host the 2036 Olympics. Brands that align with this national aspiration can build powerful legacy narratives that resonate with the growing sense of national pride. 

Supporting athletes on this journey connects your brand to something much bigger than quarterly sales targets—it links you to a chapter in India's story that will be told for generations to come. 

Tasva, a premium Indian menswear brand, became the Official Ceremonial Dress Partner for Team India at the Paris Olympics 2024. Blending tradition with modernity, Tasva designed lightweight, tricolor-inspired kurta-bundi sets and sarees that celebrated India’s heritage while ensuring comfort and style for athletes on the world stage. This unconventional tie-up allowed a non-sports brand to play a visible role in India’s Olympic journey, connecting national pride and cultural identity with the global sporting legacy.   

Your First Move: Getting in the Game 

So how do you begin? Here are three practical starting points: 

• Map Your Brand DNA to a Policy Pillar: Which aspect of the policy aligns most naturally with your brand values? A nutrition brand might focus on athlete development, while a tech company might engage with innovation initiatives. 

• Start Small But Meaningful: Consider a focused pilot in a single district or with a specific sport. The lessons learned will prove invaluable before scaling. 

• Build Key Relationships: The policy makes it clear that National Sports Federations and state governments will be crucial implementation partners. Begin establishing these connections now. 

Beyond Sponsorship: Becoming Part of the Story 

Khelo Bharat Niti 2025 reimagines sports as a pillar of national development, weaving athletic participation into the fabric of everyday Indian life—from local playgrounds to the world stage. For brands, this is a rare chance to move beyond surface-level sponsorships and become genuine partners in a movement that unites, inspires, and transforms communities. 

To seize this moment, brands must act with authenticity and strategic vision. Zupotsu empowers marketers to identify the right opportunities and craft meaningful campaigns in this dynamic landscape. The future of sports marketing in India is here—the advantage goes to those who lead the change. 

Zupotsu is a martech platform on a mission to ‘digitize’ sports marketing. Zupotsu enables the discovery, engagement, and evaluation (the ‘DEE’ framework) for every sports and esports marketing asset. Please sign up at www.zupotsu.com. Follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram. Reach out at ‘marketing@zupotsu.com’ for any queries.