IPL 2021 Live Streaming – Disney+ Hotstar advertising pitch: The Indian Premier League’s official Digital Streaming partner Disney+ Hotstar is confident of a higher viewership of the Indian Premier League 2021 season. So much so that, it is trying to attract advertisers with an aggressive ad sales pitch for the Indian Premier League (IPL) that is slated for April-May window.
IPL 2021 Disney+ Hotstar Pitch to advertisers: IPL is the crown jewel of Disney+ Hotstar having won it from Sony a few years ago. The tournament is also the reason why the platform has become so popular in the country. But now, it is taking the lead in wooing advertisers.
– Disney+ Hotstar has projected that the platform reach for IPL 2021 will be around 260-280 million
– The streaming platform is project 50-60% higher watch time.
– The last edition of the tournament which was played in the United Arab Emirates had a reach of 260 million and a 33% higher watch time per user compared to IPL 2019.
– Its ‘Watch ‘N Play’ game saw a massive 520 million questions being responded to.
The OTT platform, which has a total download of 400 million on Google Play Store and Apple App Store combined, has a loyal audience base in IPL fans. The fan base of the tournament has also grown rapidly over the last few years.
Hence, Hotstar believes the advertisers could establish their brands among those loyal fanbase by targeting ultra-premium connected TV (CTV) audiences. As per the platform, it has the largest sports viewing subscribers that has reached 80% of the Male 15+ AB Urban universe through IPL. Furthermore, 53% of IPL Live viewers on the platform are NCCS A, besides 65% of the CTV owners in India are hooked to IPL on Disney+ Hotstar.
After splashing a whopping Rs 16,347 crore in 2017 for IPL broadcasting and streaming rights, STAR India’s Disney+ Hotstar now wants to earn it back through pushing advertisements on IPL highlights content. As per the platform, viewers watch around 90% of highlights content within 12 hours after the match ends with a reach of 100 million viewers in the last edition of the T20 tournament.
For the next edition of the cash-rich tournament, Disney+ Hotstar will launch Watch Parties to offer more interactive content. Since 2019, the OTT giant has introduced several new interactive content on their platform including gaming in IPL 2018.
As per the presentation, brands can now drive awareness or consideration through powerful midroll ads like videos with companion carousels. Other content solutions will include Exclusive PPL Segments, Influencer Marketing, Custom Branded Content, and Catch-up Content.
In 2020, over 300 advertisers had their brand promotion on Disney+ Hotstar’s platform to reach out to their customers. It had signed 13 sponsors for IPL 2020 and is expected to have earned ad revenues in excess of Rs 300 crore despite the tournament being put behind the paywall.
But IPL isn’t the only competition. Disney+ Hotstar will have three other marquee cricket tournament that they can leverage. They are India-England series, Asia Cup, and ICC World T20. For the ongoing India-England series, the platform roped in nine sponsors including Dream11, ICICI Bank, Tata Cliq, Zomato, Unacademy, 1MG, ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, Kingfisher Storm Soda, and Kingfisher Packaged Drinking Water. Disney+ Hotstar believes the bilateral series will have a 60-80 million reach.