Media buyers fear that the decision of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to shift the second season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) outside India, to either South Africa or England, may impact rates and ratings.
Navin Khemka, senior vice president, Zenith Optimedia said, ?Advertisers who had committed on ground investments with 360 degree local surround, hoping to leverage the hype locally, will be hit badly. If the IPL moves out of India, there is bound to be lesser on ground media hype. Thus, the on ground team sponsors might want to renegotiate contracts on a short-term perspective.? He, however, said that air revenues will not be affected much.
Major revenue losses are likely to occur through gate collections; franchisees earn a major share of their revenue from this.
Mahesh Ranka, general manager, India Relay Worldwide, Starcom MediaVest Group, said, ?On air advertisers might not face any problems, as match timings will remain unaltered. However, on ground revenues for brands associated with ground activation, gate fees, ticket sales and other promotional activities are bound to get affected, as the IPL is being shifted.?
Experts feel that though, given the hype surrounding the event, existing advertisers will not back out, some brands that were considering an association with IPL will surely have to rethink their options.
Given that the Bombay High Court on Friday refused to grant any interim relief to Sony in connection with the row over broadcasting rights of IPL, the BCCI is now free to negotiate with other broadcasters to telecast the IPL matches.
?Advertisers who have bought ad spots with Sony might consider moving to another channel and this in turn may affect their costs. There is a possibility that advertisers may need to invest an additional 20% for buying spots from the new broadcaster,? said Ranka.