Amazon, Vodafone, Vivo among sponsors signed for IPL 2017: Sony

Broadcaster Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) has signed up 11 sponsors, including Amazon and mobile handset maker Vivo, so far as it targets over Rs 1,200 crore advertisement revenue from the tenth season of Indian Premier League (IPL).

The official broadcast partner of IPL is confident that the number of sponsors this year will be more than the last edition of the T20 league.

E-commerce major Amazon, mobile handset maker Vivo and telecom giant Vodafone will be the presenting sponsors, while Ceat, wire-maker Polycab, Yamaha Motorcycles, Vimal Pan Masala, MakeMytrip, Parle Agro's Frooti, Voltas and Yes Bank are associate sponsors signed up so far.

"Last year we had 12 sponsors, this year we have already got 11. We still have over a month to go, so we will obviously cross 12 this time, which would probably be one of the best seasons that IPL has ever had," SPN President, Network Sales and International Business, Rohit Gupta said.

In terms of revenue, he said: "Last year it was slightly higher than Rs 1,100 crore and a 10 per cent increase is what we are looking for this year."

The tenth season of IPL will kick off on April 5 and the final will be played on May 21.

When asked about advertising rates, he said: "We took a 10 per cent increase this year over last year."

The sponsorship packages are between Rs 5.65 lakh to Rs 5.75 lakh per 10 second, he said.

For HD channel, the spot rates for other advertisers are Rs 6 lakh per 10 seconds, while the same for standard definition (SD) channels is Rs 2 lakh, he added.

Commenting on advertisement inventories, he said as of now 70 per cent have been sold out and "in the next 10 days we will get around 80-85 per cent".

When asked whether demonetisation has any impact on advertisers' response to IPL, he replied in negative and said: "All the brands which were in IPL earlier have come back and these are from next year budgets because it starts in April."

"Also, whenever the economy is a little tough, trophies like IPL do better because there is no risk involved in the investment on IPL because you know its going to do well, you know the kind of reach it is going to get," he added.