IPL 2024: Who will blink first—media rights holders or advertisers?

Delhi: With just two days to go until IPL 2024, both advertisers and media rights holders are waiting for each other to blink first.

Advertisers are holding out for JioCinema and Star Sports to lower ad rates, while the platforms are reluctant to make concessions.

A Chief Marketing Officer engaged in discussions with both JioCinema and Star Sports told BestMediaInfo.com that both media rights holders have significant inventories available with them.

"Although we have already picked up sponsorship on JioCinema, we want to see how the tournament performs in the first week before committing further investments," he noted.

Another marketer at a large FMCG added, "As the tournament's start looms just around the corner, advertisers are eagerly anticipating reductions in ad rates from the platforms."

Advertisers' reluctance to commit to IPL sponsorship until the last moment is influenced by both audience and advertiser fatigue.

Elaborating on this, a media planner explained, "There has been an oversaturation of cricket content lately, with numerous series both ongoing and scheduled for the near future. It becomes challenging for advertisers to support all these properties. Additionally, this year, the IPL coincides with ongoing elections, followed shortly by the T20 World Cup and the Olympics."

He went on to say, “It's a very heavy year for an advertiser. We cannot spread ourselves thin across all the activities that are happening. It will be suboptimal for a brand to be associated with each and every activity.”

The media planner remarked, "General elections occur once every five years. The upcoming elections will unfold over two months, coinciding with the IPL season, posing a significant challenge for the tournament's viewership. Moreover, the target audiences for both cricket and elections overlap considerably."

A Chief Marketing Officer from a tech brand suggested that brands may opt to adopt a wait-and-see approach for the first 5–10 matches of the IPL to assess the influence of the elections. During this period, they anticipate a decrease in ad rates.

A media head at one of India’s top advertisers said that while the ad rates are high, they are also sceptical about the viewership and ratings of this year’s IPL season.

Explaining the thought behind it, he said, “Last year, the nation was starving for cricket when the IPL happened. This year, there have been back-to-back cricket properties.”

For the record, Disney Star delivered a 32% jump in IPL ratings while its reach grew by 36% in 2023. On JioCinema, 44.9 crore people watched IPL last year.

Another marketer noted that this year, both Star Sports and JioCinema struggled to match last year's sponsorships due to the consistently escalating costs. He observed that brands are increasingly wary of investing in IPL sponsorships due to the limited return on investment.

"DLF, Pepsi, Byju's—all have a history of incurring losses through IPL sponsorships. Consequently, advertisers are becoming highly selective about partnering with these platforms. Only brands with substantial funding are willing to invest in sponsorships this year," she elaborated.

Last year, JioCinema secured 21 sponsors before the tournament commenced. However, this year, the Reliance-owned OTT platform has only managed to secure about 18 sponsors.

JioCinema’s list of digital streaming sponsors for the 2024 IPL season includes Dream11 as a co-presenting sponsor, while Tata Motors, PayZapp by HDFC Bank, SBI, Cred, AMFI, Upstox, Charged by Thums Up, Britannia, Pepsi, Parle products, Google Pixel, Haier, Jindal Steel, Vodafone, Dalmia Cements, Kamla Pasand and Rapido have joined hands as associate sponsors.

Similarly, reports suggest that Star Sports had signed 8–9 sponsors, with a few still at the negotiation stage. However, it's worth noting that the Disney-owned channel had 13 sponsors last year.

According to a media head from another brand, the year-on-year increase in IPL ad rates has made it exceedingly costly for marketers to advertise on the platform. "If the BCCI wants sports and media rights holders to thrive, they will need to reconsider their pricing strategy," he concluded.

A marketer who is advertising on both TV and digital said that TV gives them reach and digital has the power of targeting.

JioCinema has introduced FCT on mobile at the rate of Rs 16 lakh for a 10-second slot while reducing CPM rates.

On the other hand, Star Sports has sought a marginal increase in ad rates. The broadcaster has pitched for a 10-second slot on both SD and HD at Rs 16.4 lakh.

According to a media head at a brand, the notion of TV being more expensive than digital is just a lack of understanding.

“People say advertising on TV is expensive due to spillover, but to my understanding, a certain amount of spillover is good. In fact, on digital, one is overexposed and burns impressions in a blink of an eye. Also, cricket is very massy. If one wants to target, then one can look at a smaller unit of media.”

On the other hand, another advertiser highlighted the cost-effectiveness of digital advertising. They pointed out that on television, the average TVR remains consistent regardless of whether a brand pays a premium to advertise at the start of the match or during halftime. "The average TVR calculation also includes ad breaks when viewership typically drops by 20–30%," he explained.