Advertisers are queuing up at the Reliance-backed JioCinema and Disney-owned Star Sports for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. The T20 tournament will kick off on Friday, with the opening match between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
The two networks, JioCinema with digital rights and Star Sports with TV rights, will go into the IPL this year as rivals for the last time before they merge as part of a broader plan by Reliance and Disney to combine into an $8.5-billion joint venture by end of this calendar year or early next year.
Industry experts say Rs 4,000-5,000 crore in advertising money is riding on the IPL this year versus Rs 3,500-4,000 crore last year, which is a growth of around 14%, according to industry experts.
JioCinema, which will continue broadcasting the IPL for free for the second year in a row, has tied up with 18 sponsors — including Tata Motors, Britannia, Pepsi and Parle Products — for their IPL coverage this year.
Star Sports, on the other hand, has advertisers such as Asian Paints, Amul, Dettol, Charged by Thums Up, Dream11, Vimal and Joy Personal Care as sponsors on television, according to media industry sources. Executives at Star Sports were not immediately available for comment.
Star Sports is said to be in talks with a few more advertisers, such as Airtel, Mondelez and LIC, according to media industry sources, for likely TV sponsorships. Last year, Star Sports had 13 sponsors versus the seven this year, media experts said. Airtel, Mondelez and LIC were sponsors last year on Star Sports.
“This year, the share of digital revenue in total advertising money riding on IPL could be higher than last year at around 55%. It was around 51-52% last year, overtaking TV for the first time thanks to JioCinema’s free-streaming initiative. Share of TV revenue, meanwhile, could shrink to about 45% versus around 48-49% last year,” Sajal Gupta, chief executive officer at Gurugram-based media consultancy Kiaos Marketing, said.
A Viacom18 spokesperson when contacted said that advertisers are seeing the power of digital with the IPL. “Indians prefer watching the IPL on their mobile devices and connected TVs. Advertisers have skewed their spends towards where the consumers are,” the Viacom18 spokesperson said.
Viacom18 has also pegged ad rates attractively at Rs 200-250 cost per mille (CPM) for a 10-second run-of-site mid-roll this year. Pre-roll video ads have been pegged at Rs 280-300 CPM for 10 seconds, according to media industry sources. The platform had similar advertising rates last year.
Star Sports, on the other hand, has marginally increased ad rates this year. The combined rate for standard definition (SD) and high-definition (HD) channels has increased to Rs 16.4 lakh per 10 seconds from Rs 16 lakh (per 10 seconds) last year. SD rates have grown from Rs 12 lakh to Rs 12.8 lakh per 10 seconds last year.