Cricket World Cup finals ad rates skyrocket for India vs Australia clash

With India and Australia set to clash in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup finals on Sunday, the ad rates for advertising on the cricket property have shot through the roof for the limited ad inventory left on TV and CTV.

Shashank Srivastava

“The 10-second spot on TV is likely being sold for Rs 35-40 lakh,” said Shashank Srivastava, Senior Executive Director, Marketing and Sales, Maruti Suzuki, which is one of the biggest advertisers of this year’s cricket World Cup and allocates 55-60% of its advertising budget during the quarters ending September and December.

Sources earlier told BestMediaInfo.com that Disney Star demanded Rs 30 lakh for a 10-second ad on TV (30-40% higher than the previous World Cup), which was eventually settled at around Rs 25-27 lakh per 10-second ad on average.

However, Srivastava pointed out that only limited TV inventory is left with Disney Star to sell for the finals. He commented, “Limited inventory is available on TV to the tune of around 10-15 spots only on live programming.”

He added, “On Hotstar (OTT), a similar limited inventory is available for CTV which would be in the range of 40-50 million impressions and the going rate would be around Rs 500-600 CPM for 10 seconds.”

For the record, CTV rates offered by the platform for the World Cup range between Rs 300-400/CPM until now.

Having said that, there is an adequate amount of inventory available for advertisers who want to advertise on mobile.

“The rate for mobile is around Rs 200-300 CPM for 10 seconds,” said Srivastava.

Disney+ Hotstar has been offering CPM rates of Rs 70-80/CPM on mobile till now due to massive viewership triggered by the free offering of the tournament on mobile devices.

Ajit Varghese

In an earlier interaction with BestMediaInfo.com, Ajit Varghese, Head of Network - Ad Sales, Disney Star, told BestMediaInfo.com that “Disney Star is selling ad spots on mobile at similar CPM rates to UGC platforms, made mobile free to view, launched a self-serve platform and opened up more targeting options to ensure brands across arena can be part of cricket buzz as the festive season approaches.”

Srivastava further said, “Demand from brands has picked up after India has qualified for the finals. Considering the huge reach built up in the Semi-Finals, it augurs very well for advertisers to be present in the finals as massive audiences can be reached in just one day.”

While the data for Star Sports' reach during the semi-finals is yet not out, the audience interest in the game could be gauged with Disney+ Hotstar breaking its record of Live concurrency in the India versus New Zealand semifinal match with 5.3 crore peak live concurrent viewership.

The previous record of 4.4 crore concurrent viewers was made when Virat Kohli hit his 49th one-day century during India's ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 match against South Africa at the Eden Gardens on November 5.

As per the latest BARC data shared by Disney Star, over 430 million people tuned in to 34 matches of World Cup 2023.

The total watch time (consumption) on television for the live broadcast of the tournament has witnessed a 10% (All BARC Data for 2+U+R (including DD)) increase compared to the 2019 edition.

In the last Cricket World Cup held in 2019, Disney Star reached 552 million people (Source: BARC 2+).

To generate the highest-ever revenue buoyed by the festive season this World Cup, Disney Star roped in 26 sponsors and over 500 advertisers for the tournament. The list features brands including PhonePe, Mahindra & Mahindra, Dream11, Hindustan Unilever, Coca-Cola, Havells, IndusInd Bank, Pernod India, Booking.com, Peter England, Kingfisher Packaged Drinking Water, Mondelez, Emirates, Diageo, Jindal Panther, MRF Tyres, LendingKart, BPCL, Herbalife, Haier Appliances, AMFI, Google Pay, Polycab, Amul, Vida by Hero Motorcorp and Amazon.

Star Sports secured a sponsorship deal worth Rs 150 crore for TV advertisements from PhonePe. M&M is spending Rs 150 crore, HUL Rs 200 crore, and Coca-Cola Rs 160 crore on World Cup sponsorships on Disney Star.

Numerous first-time advertisers entered agreements ranging from ₹1-10 crores.

As per the Elara Capital report from September 2023, Disney Star is expected to rake in approximately Rs 2,000-2200 crore this season. The report further mentioned that it expects a 6% CAGR versus the prior edition of the CWC in CY19 in terms of TV advertising. For the digital medium, CAGR may touch 21% versus 2019 levels.

Ashwin Padmanabhan

In an earlier interview with BestMediaInfo.com, the GroupM Trading and Investment Chief Ashwin Padmanabhan told BestMediaInfo.com that the brand investments this World Cup are close to 25 to 30% higher in comparison to the previous edition.

He added, "While ad spending was curtailed during last year’s T20 World Cup, this year there is a significant interest and investment made by advertisers in the cricket property. And it's a long tournament, so we'll get to know more as the tournament proceeds."

Info@BestMediaInfo.com