IPL: No longer a gentleman’s game?

The just-concluded IPL 2023 saw many battles fought on the cricket ground but there was one that started even before the tournament took off - the battle for more advertising revenue between the two broadcasters.

This was the first year when IPL’s digital and TV rights were being held by two different broadcasters. Both paid a huge sum (₹23,575 crore for TV and ₹20,500 crore for digital for 5 years each) to win the rights, and now was the time to recover it.

While it’s fair for those doing business to compete, it was different for this IPL. The potshots taken by the two at each other kept the entertainment industry engaged throughout the season. It was not just about blowing one’s own trumpet – about the number of feeds the tournament was being telecast in, the high quality of the feed and free streaming of the matches – but also about not letting go of any opportunity to run down the other. Off-record briefs were shared about the high data cost per match and about people quitting under pressure. While one tried to establish the supremacy of TV, the other pulled it down calling it an old and outdated medium. Celebrities were also dragged into the war with hundreds of crores being spent on the publicity.  

For those like us in the business of carrying news, days would start with frantic calls and messages with each accusing us of favouring the other or not highlighting their side of the story. As e4m Editor, I am at peace as both sides have accused me equally of not favouring them.

Soon as the series started, more records were made by the broadcasters than the cricketers on the field. Almost every day, each announced breaking new viewership records. The numbers were shared not just for every match but perhaps for every moment at which the new viewership record was made.

As per BARC data, Star Sports Network registered 505 million viewers this season. The viewership watch time also stood at an impressive 427.1 billion minutes. Meanwhile, Jio Cinema claimed to have a record 44.9 crore total viewers tuning in to watch the IPL games on the OTT platform. Besides, an additional 12.6 crore viewers logged in through connected TV to watch the matches, Jio Cinema has said. The platform also claimed to have set a new world record with 32 million viewers tuning in for the IPL final.

Talking of revenue and sponsorships, there were off-the-record stories on how huge sponsorship deals have been signed by each of them (both exceeding Rs 2,000 crore) along with long lists of brands getting associated with each network. Like many other publications, even we fell for some of the stories.

The question I seek to find an answer to is - how much did this help them? Going by industry sources, there was plenty of chaos and confusion, forcing brands and agencies to keep their deals on hold until the very last.

The desperation of the two broadcasters also led to clients seeking more and more discounts and freebies. The war of perception, which was perhaps meant to showcase one doing better than the other, turned into one about highlighting who was in bigger trouble.

Even post the event, off-record claims about revenue numbers - again both running into over Rs 2000 crore - were shared with select media publications. To my surprise, not a single agency was ready to corroborate them. Even the combined number, each claimed to have made, would just about touch what TV made during the last IPL. They have been saying straight and upfront that there was a drop of 20-30% in the revenue from last year.

If estimates provided by industry sources are to be believed, the ad revenue earned by Star Sports from IPL almost doubled from Rs 1800 crore in 2018 to reach a high of Rs 3800 crore in 2022. In contrast, Disney+ Hotstar’s ad revenue from IPL jumped from Rs 300 crore in 2018 to Rs 800-1000 crore in 2022. Most agencies have been claiming that digital this year did little better than last year and that TV fell short of its 2022 numbers due to the absence of big tech clients and the overall market conditions.

If these numbers are to be believed, digital has grown a little over what Hotstar billed last year but that was on a much lower base than television. TV, on the other hand, dropped ad revenue owing to larger ticket size requirements, the absence of big spenders from D2C and the complete absence of start-up clients. 

Since there are no official numbers out in the domain, all we are left with is what our ‘sources’ are claiming - both in the agencies and the broadcasters. The only trouble is that there is a gap of almost Rs 500 - 1000 crore between the estimates for each company.

How do you make business sense out of this? How much can perception help you in an industry that eventually runs on data and numbers?  

Another question to ask is why did brands not spend as much on IPL as was expected from them. Despite record-breaking viewership numbers, why could the same not be converted into money?

Are they holding back the money for big-ticket events like the World Cup, scheduled in October this year? Or is it for the festive season? Is there an IPL fatigue with brands? Or have we just lost the game in the war of perception vs reality?