The Indian Premier League kicked off last night with a heavyweight tussle between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore in Chennai. Spread across 60 games, official broadcaster Star is expected to earn around Rs 3,500 crore in advertising revenue from the 2021 season.
Here is a breakdown of what else is in store
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Chennai super Kings: Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad
Delhi Capitals: Rishabh Pant, Kagiso Rabada, R Ashwin
Kolkata Knight Riders: Shubman Gill, Andre Russell, Pat Cummins
Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, New Delhi and Kolkata
Fixtures
60 matches
Final: Ahmedabad, May 30
Sponsors
> TV (18) and digital (14)
> Besides title sponsor Vivo, others include Dream11, Tata Motors, Unacademy, Cred and Upstox
> Vivo’s original payout: Rs 440 cr
>Central sponsors bought on board for Rs 120-130 cr for 3 years
> Annual payout per sponsor: Rs 40-50 cr
VIEWERSHIP TRACKER
IPL 2020 recorded 23% jump in consumption with 400 billion viewing minutes, compared to 326 billion minutes in 2019, according to BARC
AD MONEY
> Star Sports is expected to earn advertising revenue of between Rs 3,600 crore and Rs 3,800 from the 14th edition of IPL
> According to a report in Financial Express, industry estimates reveal that the broadcaster is charging between Rs 13 lakh and Rs 14 lakh for a 10-second slot. The T20 league has seen a 14-15% hike in ad rates this year
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