Last-minute advertisers are likely to step into the ring as India take on England on Thursday in the semi-final stage of the ongoing T20 World Cup. As the biennial tournament, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC), nears its end this season, spot television ad rates have reached Rs 22-28 lakh per 10 seconds for the semi-final and final matches, according to media buyers looking to book ad slots during these games.
Official broadcaster Disney Star has been charging Rs 20-25 lakh per 10 seconds for India matches and games in the Super 8 stage, implying an increase of around 10-15% for the semi-final and final matches. The trend is similar on digital platforms, with spot rates now costing Rs 270-350 per thousand impressions (CPM), up from Rs 250-300 CPM earlier.
“India has not won an ICC tournament since 2013, so there is high viewer interest whether the national team can do it now with the T20 World Cup,” says sports and media consultant Indranil Das Blah. “India’s semi-final match with England will also be fought hard by the two sides, advertisers will be drawn to the action,” he said.
Krishnarao Buddha, senior category head, Parle Products, a leading biscuit maker, also believes that last-minute advertisers will join the bandwagon after a weak start to the tournament. Parle Products is a sponsor of the T20 World Cup on Disney Star. The broadcaster had locked a total of 19 sponsors for the T20 World Cup this year including names such as Dream11, Maruti, BPCL, Haier, ICICI Bank, Samsung and Castrol apart from Parle Products. It is streaming the tournament for free on Disney+ Hotstar.
“There were initial hiccups with matches getting washed out and unsuitable timings, which impacted viewership. While the broadcaster (Disney Star) has made good the loss by adjusting the inventory for us and other sponsors in matches in the next stage (Super 8), I believe there is still some last-minute inventory that would be available on TV and digital for spot buyers in the penultimate and final stages,” Buddha said.
That inventory has increased by about 10-15%, media planners and buyers indicated. India has not lost a single game so far in the tournament, beating archrivals Australia in its Super 8 match this week.
While the television rating (TVR) for overall matches in the T20 World Cup has been around 0.77, India matches have attracted higher viewership, with a TVR of 2.8, media buyers said.
On Disney+ Hotstar, the peak digital concurrency for the India-Pakistan match (held on June 9) stood at 290 million, according to media industry sources. While the India-Australia match, held on June 24, saw a peak concurrency of 300 million.
Though initial estimates had pegged ad revenue at Rs 2,000 crore from the T20 World Cup for Disney Star, this number has been revised to about Rs 1,500 crore now, a drop of 25%, which experts say will be achieved by the broadcaster.
