The Champions League T20 (CLT20) and Champions Trophy may have failed to meet the expectations of advertisers, but the current India-Australia ODI series has brought back the cheers. With Team India already having won two matches, Neo Sports is eyeing a bigger pie of advertising revenue from the series.
Indian Premier League 2 (IPL2) generated over Rs 400 crore ad revenue for SET Max, while ESPN Star Sports was looking at Rs 500 crore ad revenue from Champions Trophy and Champions League. While the company refused to comment on the actual revenue generated, sources said the poor response of the two tournaments made it impossible for ESPN to meet the set target.
On the low viewer appeal for CLT20, Mahesh Ranka, general manager, Relay Worldwide, Starcom MediaVest Group, said, ?The fundamental structure of CLT20 was not very appealing. In such matches, the risk of getting a good response is usually low as compared to the matches where India is competing against teams like Australia. Investment in the ongoing India-Australia ODI series is a smart move by advertisers, since it has the two top teams playing seven matches. There is already a lot of excitement around the series.?
Aiming at an advertising revenue of Rs 150 crore, the broadcaster has roped in FMCG major Procter & Gamble’s Gillette brand as one of the advertisers. Abhishek Verma, head, marketing and communications, Neo Sports, said, ?After a gap of two years, Gillette has come on board to advertise in the game of cricket. For the past few months, FMCG firms were not investing much in cricket and telecom and auto companies have been showing more interest.
Neo has also signed Hero Honda as the title sponsor for the ODI series, while it has roped in Tata Docomo, Tata Motors, HP, Samsung, Perfetti and Airtel DTH as advertisers. Amit Ray, president and COO, Lintas Media Group, said, ?The target of Rs 150 crore set by the broadcaster will be easily met as the series has high interest rate.?
ESPN charged around Rs 2-3 lakh for the 10-second ad spots for CLT20 and Rs 1.5 lakh for Champions Trophy. While the Champions Trophy didn’t look appealing due to India’s early exit from the tournament, ESPN had unsold inventory in excess of 30% despite low pricing of the ad spots. Meanwhile, ESPN’s own property, Twenty20 World Cup, this year sold the 10-second spots at Rs 2.75 lakh. ?For bulk ads, we are charging Rs 3.5 lakh for a 10-second ad spot, while the normal 10-second ad stands at Rs 4 lakh. This amount could be increased in the remaining matches as we are open to advertisers investing in the last three matches,? Abhishek Verma added.
Recent aMap ratings show the previous three matches of the series have already garnered TVRs of above 5, compared to 1.16 TVRs in first six matches of CLT20. The India-Australia ODI series started on October 25 and the final match will be played on November 11.