Viacom18 Sports eyes Rs 300 crore ad revenue from FIFA World Cup 2022
The network is seeking Rs 30-35 crore for co-presenting sponsorship and Rs 20-25 crore for associate sponsorship, say media planners
Viacom18 Sports has set an ambitious ad revenue target of Rs 300 crore for the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2022. The network is doing integrated TV + digital deals for the marquee event and has already locked in ad deals worth Rs 140 crore, say industry sources.
The previous edition of the tournament is believed to have fetched Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) ad revenue of Rs 200-250 crore on both TV and digital platforms. The total TV viewership for the FIFA World Cup 2018 stood at 111 million.
A source close to the development said that the broadcaster has roped in four sponsors. However, the sponsorship deals will have to be vetted by the world football governing body FIFA. Generally, the FIFA sponsors get the first right to refusal on broadcast/digital sponsorships.
"For FIFA World Cup, Viacom18 Sports is eyeing Rs 300 crore ad revenue from both TV and digital. It is doing integrated ad deals since the consumption of football on digital has seen a meteoric rise. Four sponsors have signed up while other brands are expected to join soon," the source said, requesting anonymity.
According to media planners, the network is seeking Rs 30-35 crore for co-presenting sponsorship and Rs 20-25 crore for associate sponsorship. Apart from co-presenting and associate sponsors, the network is also eyeing TV and digital partners. The outlays for TV partners are Rs 10-11 crore and Rs 7-8 crore for digital partners.
The co-presenting sponsors will consume over 5500-6000 seconds of FCT on SD channel across 64 matches. Sponsors will get an equal amount of inventory on HD channels also. On digital, the co-presenting sponsors will get pre and mid-roll video inventory of up to 20 seconds across live match and surround content with expected exposure of 90-100 million impressions/units.
Associate sponsors will get 3000-4000 seconds of ad inventory on the SD channel besides pre and mid-roll inventory which offers exposure of 70-80 million impressions/units on digital. TV and digital partners will get 2500 seconds of inventory and 80 million impressions/unit.
In an earlier interview, with e4m, Viacom18 CEO - Sports Anil Jayaraj noted that the biggest focus area for the network will be to grow the FIFA World Cup consumption on digital across mobile, tablet, and connected TV devices.
"The big thing that we want to say is that it's on JioCinema, which is our digital destination for the FIFA World Cup. What we are going to do is it will be without any subscription fees. So, marquee content like FIFA WC will be at no cost to viewers. We will have English, Hindi, Malayalam, Bengali, and Tamil feeds on JioCinema. We will also be doing a 4K feed, which is a big thing. It will also have a few other functionalities, including multi-camera angles which will allow consumers to choose which camera to watch it on," Jayaraj stated.
He added further, "It will be available on all three telcos – Jio, Vi, and Airtel. It will be available across devices whether it is iOS, Android, and Connected TV (CTV). For us, CTV is a big focus area. Of course, we will also have the event on television. We will only have English and Hindi feeds on our sports channel Sports18."
As reported earlier, the FIFA World Cup 2022 will be broadcast on Sports18 SD/HD channels besides being live-streamed on the JioCinema app. In order to drive a higher reach for the event, Viacom18 Sports has decided not to charge any subscription fees on JioCinema.
The JioCinema app, which has been transferred to Viacom18 from Jio Platforms, will be available for download to all telecom subscribers. Currently, telco-owned video streaming platforms like JioTV, Airtel XStream, and Vi Movies & TV are available only for respective telecom subscribers.
The app, which will be available across iOS and Android, will offer access to Viacom18 Sports’ portfolio of live and non-live programming. JioCinema offers on-demand entertainment content like movies, TV shows, web series, and music videos in multiple languages
Viacom18 Sports will live stream the tournament in 4K, which will be a first for the FIFA World Cup presentation in India. The 4K feed will be limited to digital since most Indian TV homes have standard definition (SD) or high definition (HD) set-top boxes (STBs).
The FIFA World Cup will have multiple language feeds to cater to the widest possible audience. While Sports18 SD/HD will offer English and Hindi feeds, JioCinema will have feeds in English, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, and Bengali.
Viacom18 Sports acquired FIFA World Cup 2022 rights for a reported sum of Rs 450 crore. The 64-match FIFA World Cup 2022 will be played from 21st November to 18th December featuring 32 teams. Qatar is the host country for the tournament.
