T20 World Cup needs big-ticket interest from the advertiser

Barely a week after the marquee Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 edition concluded, the T20 World Cup kicked off. With 20 teams across four groups, it will have 55 matches to be played in the USA and West Indies. The question is how much of viewer interest will sustain in a year when one has already had the IPL and the Lok Sabha elections. Among the more prominent teams, one will also see the participation of Afghanistan, Canada, Ireland, Namibia, Nepal, Oman, Papua New Guinea and the USA, among others.

A head of a marketing at a FMCG company points out that cricket and politics primarily attract a large male audience. “The big challenge is how much of money is left in the hands of the advertiser. Since cricket is the most expensive proposition, a substantial portion of the budget has already gone to the IPL followed by the elections,” he says.

There is a fundamental difference between the IPL and the World Cup when it comes to viewership interest. In the latter, it is the only India matches that matter for an advertiser (obviously includes the India-Pakistan encounter) and that puts disproportionate pressure on the broadcaster to recover his investment. In late August 2022, Disney retained the ICC rights (it includes the World Cup and Champions Trophy) for a four-year period by cutting a cheque for $3 billion. This was for both digital and television rights and just a few days later, Disney Star struck a licensing deal with Zee Entertainment. That deal was subject to the Zee-Sony merger going through, with Sony expected to infuse an equity of $1.5 billion in the resulting new entity. This January, Sony called off the merger and that meant Disney Star would now have rights to both television and digital.

A statement put out by Disney Star on May 30 said it had signed deals with 19 sponsors across categories – it has names such as Dream11, Maruti, AMFI, Parle Products, BPCL, Haier, ICICI Bank, Reliance Retail and Samsung India. Ajit Varghese, Head of Network (Ad Sales), Disney Star then said, “The continued support from renowned brands underscores the immense appeal and significance of this tournament. This diverse group of sponsors demonstrates the enduring popularity of cricket and the strategic importance of sports consumption and innovative content delivery.” It is gathered that the sponsorship deals are in the Rs 15-20 crore band depending on how hard they have been negotiated. IN terms of ad rates, a 10 second spot for an advertiser, who has signed deals for all matches, works out to Rs 3-3.5 lakh. For a big-ticket India match, (the ones against Pakistan and Australia) could hit Rs 20-25 lakh.

A hitch is that the matches are being played in the US and West Indies. That means it starts in the evening India time and also finishes late. Understandably, the advertiser has to see a lot of merit in coming aboard. Mayank Shah, Senior Category Head, Parle Products, one of the sponsors merely says, “We got a good deal and decided to go for it.” Disney Star will air the matches on Star Sports for a price but free of cost on Hotstar, its streaming platform, a decision said to have been provoked by JioCinema to disrupt the status quo during the IPL. Clearly, a lot is waiting to play out.