IPL ad sales set to cross record ₹4,000-cr mark

Ad sales of the Indian Premier League (IPL) are set to cross the Rs 4,000 crore mark for the first time since its inception 15 years ago. Disney Star, the league’s media rights holder for this season, has already sold 85% of the inventory on TV (Star Sports) and the full set of properties on Disney+Hotstar, the video streaming service, including Super 4, Super 6, ‘Fall. wicket’ and ‘milestone’.

The broadcaster has closed deals with 15 sponsors on TV and 13 on Disney+ Hotstar, and media buying executives are saying rates were at least 10% higher than last year and with additional inventory — 60 instead. 74 matches – the overall increase is very high.

Disney Star’s head of advertising sales, Nitin Bawankule, declined to divulge exact details, saying, “It is going to be the biggest IPL ever in terms of both viewership and revenue.”

He added that IPL has established itself as a major asset and is now a well-known platform for brand building.

“Given the addition of two new teams, player reshuffle and the fact that the tournament will take place in India, there is a lot of anticipation for the upcoming season. There is a positive sentiment among advertisers, and we are thrilled with the response we have received so far. Found, significant inventory has already been sold,” Bawankule said.

With the IPL taking place in the regular March-May window, summer categories like consumer durables, paints, beverages and retail are back in large numbers. Star executives say interest in emerging technology categories is high, apart from the regular IPL categories like BFSI, FMCG, auto and telecom. The interest from online services is no longer limited to categories like ecommerce, fantasy gaming, ed-tech, etc., as new tech categories like fintech, payments, hyper-local delivery services, streaming platforms are showing more demand.

Star Sports sponsors include Dream11, Tata Group, Byju’s, CRED, Kamala Pasand, Asian Paints, PhonePe, Swiggy Instamart, WhiteHat Junior, Meesho, Spotify, Pepsi and Mondelez. Whereas, Disney+ Hotstar has Dream11 as co-presenting sponsors, Tata and CRED as ‘co-operated’ sponsors and Swiggy, Pristine Care, Zepto, Ather Energy, Niyo, Parle Agro, Spotify, Livspace, L’ Oreal and Spinny as associate sponsors.

A Disney Star source said the 10-second spot was priced above ₹14 lakh. Also, this season more than 100 brands have confirmed their participation.

ET first reported on February 25 that Disney Star was capitalizing on the IPL buzz with the inclusion of the two big TV and IPL markets (Gujarat and UP), an increase in the number of match play days and an increase in the number of primetime matches. was ready for

Originally published at Pen 18