With 30-plus brands signed up on TV & OTT, IPL starts with largest ever list of sponsors

As the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) gets underway today, official broadcaster Disney Star and official digital partner Viacom18 have finalised their list of sponsors. Notwithstanding the uncertain economic environment and the talks of a slowdown in the market, the two have together roped in a total of 34 sponsors, highest ever for IPL. For the last edition, Disney Star, which had both TV and digital rights, roped in 28 sponsors.

Disney Star has struck ad deals with as many as 13 brands. Dream11, Asian Paints, Charged by Thums Up, Airtel, Cadbury Dairy Milk, Mountain Dew, Parle Biscuits, Kamala Pasand, Rupay, Britannia, Tata Neu, Jindal Panther and LIC, according to the network.

Also, exchange4media on Tuesday reported that Disney Star is believed to have closed ad sale deals worth Rs 2500 crore, and sources claim deals worth another Rs 500 crore were under discussion.

Jio Cinema, meanwhile, has roped in a total of 21 sponsors so far. The Reliance-owned platform has signed one co-presenting sponsor (Dream 11), three co-powered by sponsors (JioMart, Phonepe, Tiago EV) and 17 associate sponsors (Appy Fizz, ET Money, Castrol, TVS, Oreo, Bingo, Sting, AJIO, Haier, RuPay, Louis Philippe Jeans, Amazon, Rapido, Ultra Tech Cement, Puma,Kamla Pasand and Kingfisher Power Soda), the company shared.

This is the first time that the media rights for the T20 league has been split between two networks. This is also the first time that the digital rights for the tournament was sold for a higher price than the TV rights. While Disney Star India has retained the TV rights of IPL for Rs 23,575 crore, Reliance-backed Viacom18 grabbed the digital rights for the league with a bid of Rs 23,758 crore, which amounts to Rs 50 crore per match.

With so much at stake, both the companies are leaving no stone unturned to attract the maximum eyeball and more advertisers. In an attempt to maximise its reach, Jio Cinema will be live-streaming the game free of cost in a dozen languages. The matches will be available free on the Jio app and that too in 11 different languages, including Bhojpuri, Tamil and Bengali.

With JioCinema is offering a free digital viewing experience, Disney Star too has been upping its game. The broadcaster, for the first time ever since it acquired the TV righst in 2018, will be screening 12 games on its FTA (free to air) channel Star Utsav Movies to drive up viewership and reach. The entire tournament will be broadcast live across nine language feeds with separate feeds for statistics and highlights.

Meanwhile, in the first match today, Gujarat Titans will defend their IPL title against four-times champions Chennai Super Kings.