Sports fans are gearing up for the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia, where India will once again face the top cricket teams. However, marketers are not expecting big ad revenue growth for the tournament this time.
India is scheduled to play only five matches before the semi-finals and unfavorable match timings are some of the reasons that experts listed for the slight uptick in ad rates for the 16-nation T20 World Cup 2022, which starts with the qualifying rounds on October 16. Star Sports is the broadcast partner for the tournament.
“Inventory is 65-70 percent sold, which means there is a lot of room still left for the broadcaster to sell,” said Rammohan Sundaram, country head and managing partner, integrated media, of advertising company DDB Mudra Group.
In a multi-nation tournament such as this, matches not featuring India are not as attractive to advertisers as matches featuring India, he said.
Star Sports is still in talks with other clients across the country about various deals, said R Venkatasubramanian, president and national head of investments at Havas Media Group India.
“The ICC T20 main World Cup will begin on October 22… We estimate that they have sold close to 50 percent of the inventory as of now,” Venkatasubramanian said.
He said given that Australia is hosting the tournament and the matches will be played during the day India time, advertising package costs will be less than those of the previous T20 World Cup, which was held in the UAE last year.
But Sundaram said the pricing this time is competitive and in line with what it was last time, with no premium attached for the festive period.
Ad pricing
A 10-second ad slot is expected to cost about Rs 10.26 lakh this time compared with Rs 9.5 lakh on average per match during last year’s T20 World Cup, said Karan Taurani, senior vice-president at Elara Capital.
“There will be 7-8 percent growth versus last year. One, because timings are not favourable, so pricing remains slightly subdued. Also, there is a curtailment of spending by many of the internet companies that advertise aggressively on cricket properties,” Taurani said. “Lot of the pricing going up or down also depends on how India performs.”
Taurani expects Disney Star’s ad revenue for the T20 World Cup to increase to Rs 900-1,100 crore in 2022 from Rs 800-1,000 crore last year.
Venkatasubramanian said the broadcaster should clock in Rs 1,700-1,800 crore through TV and Disney+ Hotstar, which is the official streaming partner.
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Digital growth is likely to bring in more ad revenue.
“Digital will grow much faster – in the range of 20-25 percent – as it is still seeing growth in eyeballs and prices remain lower versus TV,” said Taurani.
Disney+ Hotstar has sold 80-90 percent of its inventory and the reserve will be sold at premium rates during high-traffic matches, said Ashish Seth, creative head at Optiminastic Media.
Ad rates on digital are 20-25 percent higher than last year’s T20 World Cup at Rs 250 CPM (cost per mille/thousand impressions). Advertisers paid about Rs 199 per CPM for 10-second ads on digital last year.
“Due to low base impact, there will be growth in digital. While growth there could have been 30 percent, it has moved lower at 25 percent because of the issue from advertisers as these new-age companies have a larger exposure on digital ads and they contribute 18-20 percent for digital advertising and 12-15 percent on traditional advertising,” said Taurani.
India-Pakistan matches
Seth said the match between India and Pakistan in the 2021 T20 World Cup garnered 12 million viewers on Disney+ Hotstar.
“I believe this bout between the two teams will see not just a record-breaking viewership but also a steep increase in premium pricing on ad rates,” he said.
The audience will be much more active in one of the greatest cricket rivalries between India and Pakistan, said Sahil Chopra, Founder of iCubesWire, a digital ad agency.
Last year’s T20 World Cup recorded a reach of 400 million viewers and the India-Pakistan match had a reach of 200 million on TV. This year at the T20 World Cup, India’s opening match will be against Pakistan, scheduled on October 23.
On TV, the pricing can move up to Rs 16 lakh per 10 seconds for matches featuring India, said Taurani.
“They (Disney Star) offer a variety of appealing packages, such as three, four, or all India matches as well as non-India matches. If you take only three India matches plus one non-India match, the rates will be 10-15 percent higher than the standard spot rates,” said Venkatasubramanian.
Sundaram said the network is offering a Festive Freedom Package where advertisers can select their preferred matches till October 31, after which all matches are compulsory and advertisers won’t have any choices to pick from.
He said there is no premium pricing attached to these packages.
The final of the tournament is scheduled in Melbourne on November 13.