Delayed IPL 2020 may bring festive-season bonanza for advertisers

Experts see uptick in ad revenue after dull first half

The 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be held from September 19 to November 8 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), announced Brijesh Patel, chairman of the cash-rich league, on Friday.

Coming within days of the International Cricket Council’s decision to move the T20 World Cup slated for this year in Australia, it confirms this will be the first IPL season to be held during the festive period in India. This will also be the third edition to be held abroad. South Africa had hosted the 2009 edition, while the UAE had staged the first half of the tournament in 2014.

Even as the match timings and standard operating procedures to be followed by the eight teams will be decided next week, advertisers are expected to get fireworks started.

Media agency heads whom Business Standard spoke to said the tournament would bring advertisers back after a challenging first half of CY20, given the festive season is a vital window from an advertising viewpoint. 

“The announcement of dates is certainly good news for advertisers. Close to 45 per cent of annual advertising takes place between Ganesh Chaturthi and New Year. A lot of advertisers will, therefore, be interested in undertaking promotional and brand-building work. The IPL is a high-impact property that will attract advertising,” said Ashish Bhasin, CEO (APAC) and chairman (India) of Dentsu Aegis Network.

Disney-owned Star India, which holds the broadcast rights for the IPL, had earned Rs 2,000 crore in advertising revenue from both the TV channels and Hotstar, last year. 

It is likely to maintain this revenue target this IPL season, given that ad rates will not be sold at a premium of 10-15 per cent, which is the norm every season, said media agency sources.  

Last year, the average ad rate for a 10-second slot on TV and digital advertising for the IPL was Rs 8-10 lakh. Star could maintain these rates in a bid to woo as many  advertisers as possible, said people in the know.

If compared to the Cricket World Cup in 2019, the India matches attracted higher rates of Rs 17-18 lakh per 10 seconds. Non-India matches, in comparison, attracted a rate of Rs 5-7 lakh.

Raj Nayak, a media industry expert who has tracked the sports industry for over two decades, said that segments such as FMCG, automotive, telecom, e-commerce, ed-tech, digital, and gaming apps would be eyeing a share of the advertising pie.

This will be besides categories like consumer durables and electronics.

“I don’t see any dearth of advertisers as far as IPL goes,” he said. 

“And the fact that it is happening in the second half of the year, during the festive season, will only encourage many to step up advertising,” he said.

R S Sodhi, MD of Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation — maker of Amul — said IPL very much features on its advertising calendar. “We are big investors as far as sporting tournaments go. And we will look at the IPL this year from an advertising perspective,” said Sodhi.