The broadcaster has closed deals with 15 sponsors on TV and 13 on Disney+Hotstar, and media buying executives are saying the rates were at least 10% higher than the last year and with extra inventory – 74 matches, instead of 60 – the overall increase is much higher.
“This is going to be the biggest IPL ever, both in terms of viewership and revenue,” said Nitin Bawankule, head, ad sales at Disney Star, while declining to disclose the exact details.
He said that the IPL has established itself as a marquee property and is now a well-known platform for brand building.
“There is a lot of anticipation around the upcoming season given the addition of two new teams, the reshuffling of the players and the fact that the tourney will be held in India. There is a positive sentiment amongst the advertisers, and we are thrilled by the response we have got so far, with significant inventory being sold already,” Bawankule said.
With IPL slotted in its regular March-May window, summer categories like consumer durables, paints, beverages, and retail have come back in big numbers. Apart from the regular IPL categories like BFSI, FMCG, auto and telecom, interest among emerging tech categories is significantly high, say Star executives. Interest from online services is no more limited to categories like ecommerce, fantasy gaming, ed-tech, etc. as newer tech categories like fintech, payments, hyper-local delivery services, streaming platforms, among others, are showing more demand.
Sponsors on Star Sports include Dream11, Tata group, Byju’s, CRED, Kamla Pasand, Asian Paints, Phone Pe, Swiggy Instamart, WhiteHat Jr, Meesho, Spotify, Pepsi and Mondelez. Whereas, Disney+ Hotstar has signed Dream11 as the co-presenting sponsor, Tata and CRED as the ‘co-powered by’ sponsors and Swiggy, Pristyn Care, Zepto, Ather Energy, Niyo, Parle Agro, Spotify, Livspace, L’Oreal and Spinny as associate sponsors.
A source in Disney Star said that the price of the 10 second spot was above ₹14 lakh. Also, more than 100 brands have already confirmed their participation this season.
ET had first reported on February 25 that Disney Star was set to cash in on IPL buzz with the inclusion of two big TV and IPL markets (Gujarat and UP), increased number of playing match days and increased number of primetime matches.
