Star Sports aims at making IPL 2023 biggest ever on TV

The countdown for the upcoming edition of IPL has begun and Star Sports is gearing up to take this experience to next level and make it the biggest ever on TV. Furthermore, it is building up to delivering a scale never seen before and brands will be looking forward to leveraging its unparalleled scale in IPL 2023. 

Star Sports aims at making IPL 2023 the biggest ever on TV

Over the years, Star Sports has been building IPL as the largest platform in the country for community viewing. 

As a broadcaster, it will leave no stone unturned to provide the best experience to viewers through its Live and Non-Live programming initiatives around IPL 2023, a Star Sports spokesperson said. 

Star Sports plans on bringing over 100 cricket experts to create customised regional content with over 10 language feeds, which will be aired on over 22 channels across the Disney Star Network. 

Moreover, this year, with the introduction of two new regional HD channels- SS Tamil HD and SS Telugu HD, Star Sports aims to boost premium audience viewership among the two largest south markets for cricket and television. 

Furthermore, the strength of Star Sports 360-degree marketing campaigns and tech innovations, among other initiatives, will help amplify the reach this season, said the channel’s spokesperson.

What's new for advertisers this season?

IPL provides a platform for brands across categories to reach different cohorts of audiences and connect with them in multiple ways. If the festive cricket season is anything to go by, Star Sports has seen various clients across categories jump on the bandwagon and hence it is positive that there will be good response this season as well, the Star Sports spokesperson stated.

In terms of the mood in the market, the channel has been in the market for some time and has received positive interest from clients across categories.

As per industry sources, Star Sports will be curating customised packages for clients depending on their budgets. This practice has helped them bring a wide variety of clients irrespective of their size or category. A plethora of assets and opportunities during the live broadcast of the league are available for brands to drive their association by leveraging the unparalleled scale of television. 

According to the grapevine, the current ad rates floating in the market to advertise on Star Sports during IPL are pegged to be around Rs 16-17 lakh for a 10-second slot. 

Cricket on TV is the biggest platform for brands to drive reach and impact. Star Sports provides a platform for brands to build meaningful associations during IPL irrespective of their size and outlay, and this year will be no different.

The spokesperson added, “The platform is building up to delivering a scale never seen before and brands will be looking forward to leveraging its unparalleled scale in IPL 2023.” 

2022 has strongly revived sports viewership on TV in India with 737 million watching sports on the big screen between January and November. According to BARC, the penetration of TVs in India stands at a staggering 900 million audiences. 

“The growth in viewership can be largely attributed to live sports and cricket being a massive aggregator of these numbers”, said the spokesperson.

Impact of JioCinema's decision to offer IPL for free to users, on TV

Historically, cricket has been available to viewers free of cost on Doordarshan for all Indian matches during bilateral and Cricket World Cups. 

Even after that, in terms of viewership, 2022 has been a record-breaking cricket season for Disney Star across Asia Cup, ICC Men’s T20 World Cup and India’s bilateral series against Australia and New Zealand. Star Sports has seen TV ratings grow by 36-47%. 

“TV has dominated as a platform for cricket viewership in India and Star Sports is working towards delivering a scale never seen before,” said the spokesperson. 

With two broadcasters, there will be immense surround sound for IPL 2023 and brands across categories will be excited to jump on this bandwagon. This surround sound will drum up interest among viewers to watch IPL 2023 and TV as a medium will benefit as live sports continue to be an experience that viewers prefer watching on the big screen. 

IPL to witness a lot more local engagement and fanfare

This time around, IPL would be a travelling league, so one would get to see a lot more local engagement and fanfare. 

IPL 2023 will witness the revival of matches being played on home grounds of all the franchises for the first time since 2020, after a gap of 3 years, and with no restrictions on fan entry inside stadiums.

IPL will happen after a year’s gap, which wasn’t the case for the past three years (organised after every six months due to COVID-19).

The local markets in cities where franchises are based will drive massive traction for the league on-ground, which in turn will create momentum for the 2023 edition in the region, as has been seen in previous years. Addition of two teams -- Gujarat and Lucknow -- and the popularity it gained last year due to their performance, there will be a lot more excitement and noise from these two states.

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