ICC T20 World Cup's 70% TV Ad Inventory Sold

If reports are to be believed, Star Sports, the official broadcaster of ICC T20 World Cup, has already sold 70 per cent of the television ad inventory of the game. It is also likely to keep 20-25 per cent inventory for the final matches so that a premium amount can be charged if India enters the semis or the finals. Slated between October 17- November 14, the tournament will be hosted in UAE this time. 

As for the sponsorships, there are no confirmed names as yet. However, Byju’s, Dream11, Vimal, Coca-Cola, and Skoda may be the potential contenders. According to industry estimates, the co-presenting sponsorship is costing around Rs 60-70 crore and associate sponsorship is priced around Rs 30-40 crore. The broadcaster is charging Rs 14-15 lakh for a 10-second ad spot.

Experts witness considerable demand among advertisers for T20 World Cup ad spots and therefore the inventory is filling up quickly. Edtech, fintech and other emerging startups are the new kids on the block to spend monies on these big-ticket tournaments. For some of the other brands, properties like these bring in a chance to recover the lost money, expand the reach and target the audience better.

Giving credence to GroupM’s ESP properties report, Star Sports was able to pull in Rs 260.0 crore ($38.24 million) net ‘on air’ ad sales revenues for the previous edition of ICC Men’s T20. During 2016, India exit the tournament before the semi-finals which had impacted the ad rates for the finals.

During the ICC World Cup T20 held in India 2016, the India- Pakistan encounter rated 17.3 across Star Sports network and Doordarshan and reaching 83 million people, making it the best rated Twenty20 match ever since the final of the World Twenty20 in 2007. The cumulative in-home viewership for the tournament in India was 730 million, an increase of 114 per cent over the previous edition.

ICC has so far signed 15 partners for the T20 World Cup including, Oppo, MRF Tyres, Booking.com, Byju’s, Bharat Pe, Emirates, MoneyGram., Bira, Star Sports, Coca Cola, Upstox, Nissan, Royal Stag, Dream11 and Jacob’s Creek.