IPL 2020: Star India eyeing ₹ 2,500 crore from broadcast sponsorship

Star Sports is aiming to rake up ₹ 2,500 crores from the Indian Premier League broadcast sponsorship and ad sales. The broadcaster has decided to retain the inventory prices fixed for the March-May IPL schedule.

A ‘Co-Presenting’ package price is retained at ₹ 120 crores to ₹ 125 crores, while the associated sponsorships stay on offer for ₹ 70 crores to ₹ 100 crores. The variation is based on the required ad slots.

The Star Sports sales pitch is based on three key positives to abolished the fears and affect of the economically weaker market due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • 7:30 PM start: For the first time in the IPL history the matches will start at 7:30 pm. This allows an additional 30 minutes prime time for the LIVE broadcast.
  • More Eyeballs: OTT platforms’ loss is going to be the gain for television. The IPL for the first time will be streamed on the Disney+ Hotstar Premium. The broadcaster is anticipating the digital audience to come down from up to 300 million last year to around 60 million due to a higher subscriptioN. These fans will turn to television, resulting in a higher reach for the TV advertisers.
  • Diwali Season: In yet another first, the IPL 2020 will be played during the festive season. The Diwali period is expected to increase the demand with the expected presence of new brand categories.

“Star sales team is in touch with all the 16-17 brands which were on board for the original schedule of the league. The response is very good. Some of them have confirmed their commitments while several other signings are slated for the weekend or Monday,” a marketing source has said.

Star India had originally set a ₹ 3,300-crore combined revenue target from television and digital when the league was to be played from March 29 to May 24.

Star then had roped in Kathabook and Amazon on board as the new signings, while to brands like Dream 11, Byju’s, Vivo, PhonePe and Asian Paints had decided to continue their affiliation with the IPL broadcast. Coca-Cola, PhonePe and Maruti Suzuki were among the other brands on board.

The decision to move the streaming from Disney Hotstar to Disney Hotstar Premier will significantly dent the revenue from the digital platform. The company is aiming to recover that deficit partially from subscription fee and partially from gains in the TV ad revenue.

Also read: IPL 2020 to be streamed on Disney+ Hotstar Premium

Star India had bagged IPL’s media rights for ₹16,347.5 crores for five-year cycle from 2018 to 2022.

Admin Sportz Front

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