12 TV & 10 digital sponsors for IPL 2021– Star & Disney India off to a good start

Buoyed by the strong response that it elicited during the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Star & Disney India is looking to build on the commercial success of the tournament in 2021. Unlike the IPL 2020 edition, which took place under the shadow of an unprecedented economic crisis, IPL 2021 is happening at a time when demand is picking up and the economy is limping back to normalcy.

Star & Disney India has got off to a good start by roping in 12 TV and 10 digital sponsors for IPL 2021 even as the tournament is still nearly a month away.

According to an industry source with knowledge of the matter, the TV sponsors who have signed up or are close to signing up are Byju's, Dream11, PhonePe, Coca Cola, Maruti, MRF, Voltas, Amazon, Polycab, Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI), ITC, and Just Dial. Just Dial, which is a listed entity, has informed the BSE that it has signed up as a co-presenting broadcast sponsor for IPL 2021.

The source said that the media company had collected an estimated Rs 3,200 crore in net ad revenue from IPL 2020. This comprised Rs 2,800 crore from TV broadcast and Rs 370-380 crore from digital on Disney+ Hotstar. With advertising demand for IPL 2021 exceeding that of IPL 2020, the broadcaster is eyeing double-digit ad revenue growth.

"Star & Disney India has roped in 12 sponsors for the TV broadcast of IPL. Many sponsors have been signed up while few are in the closing stages," the source said.

On Wednesday, Star & Disney India had unveiled the list of sponsors for IPL 2021 on Disney+ Hotstar. Dream11 is the co-presenting sponsor, Upstox and Vimal Elaichi are the co-powered by sponsors. PhonePe, AMFI, Unacademy, Pharmeasy, Livspace, Swiggy, and Parle Agro have signed on as associate sponsors.

The common sponsors on TV and digital are Dream11, PhonePe, and AMFI. It is estimated that the TV broadcast part of IPL will have 90-100 brands advertising on the platform while the digital part on Disney+ Hotstar will see 160-200 brands advertising on the platform.

The source stated that the broadcaster is asking for Rs 13.2 lakh per 10 seconds from co-presenting sponsors and Rs 13.6 lakh per 10 seconds from associate sponsors. Spot buyers have to fork out Rs 14.1 to 14.3 lakh for a 10-second spot.

Furthermore, 50% of the IPL ad inventory on television will be consumed by sponsors while the remaining half will be utilised by spot buyers. In the previous edition, as much as 52% of the inventory was consumed by sponsors.

The difference between sponsors and spot buyers is that the former has to buy a certain minimum inventory. The co-presenting sponsors have to buy a minimum of 5-6 spots per match while the associate sponsors have to buy a minimum of 3-4 spots per match. Each spot comprises 30 seconds.

Every IPL game has an ad inventory of 3000-3100 seconds.

Official email sent to Star & Disney India remained unanswered till the time of filing this report.

Another source, on condition of anonymity, said that the broadcaster is eyeing Rs 110-125 crore from co-presenting sponsors and Rs 65-70 crore from associate sponsors.

A senior media executive said that the company is providing customised packages to clients. The executive also said that the broadcaster is likely to end up with Rs 3200-3500 crore of ad revenue this year which is a huge growth over Rs 2900 crore that the company made last season.

"TV sponsorship is Rs 90-95 crore which will not go below Rs 80-85 crore even after discounting. Minimum digital sponsorship is going at Rs 30-35 crore. The minimum price per 10-second spot is Rs 13 lakh," the executive quoted above said.

In a statement announcing the list of digital sponsors, Star & Disney India President - Ad Sales Nitin Bawankule said IPL is a prime sporting property that provides advertisers an opportunity for real-time consumer engagement on Disney+ Hotstar.

"Going by the response from the market, IPL 2021 promises to be an even more significant opportunity for brands. All key features such as Super 4s, Super 6s, Fall Of Wickets, Milestones, and Super Savers have sold out within a short period, and we see early closures across categories. With a host of innovative advertising formats, targeting on connected TVs, and custom branded content solutions, brands have the unique opportunity to reach a highly engaged and affluent audience through the sharp targeting options available on live sports,” he added.

Like last year, IPL 2021 is expected to have multi-lingual feeds. In 2020, the tournament had English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, and Marathi language feeds across sports and regional language channels.

The series will be streamed on Disney+ Hotstar in five languages – English, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, and Tamil and will be exclusively available to subscribers of Disney+ Hotstar VIP (Rs 399 for 12 months) and Disney+ Hotstar Premium (Rs 1499 for 12 months).

In its pitch to the advertisers, Disney+ Hotstar has projected that the platform reach for IPL 2021 will be in the region of 260-280 million with a 50-60% higher watch time. IPL 2020 had a platform reach of 260 million with a 33% higher watch time per user v IPL 2019.

IPL 2021 will be played from April 9 to May 30 across six venues Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata. The season will kickstart in Chennai with a high octane clash between defending champions Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore. The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad will host the Playoffs as well as the final. The newly built stadium that hosted India’s second Pink Ball fixture at home with great grandeur will host its first-ever IPL. 

Star India network had delivered the most successful IPL season ever last year recording 400 billion minutes of consumption. IPL 2020 had set a viewership record with an overall consumption increase of 23% versus 2019. Television viewership reached 31.57 million average impressions.