Star Sports takes Congress ad off-air during IPL as it flouts BCCI contract

New Delhi: Star Sports made history by airing political advertisements during IPL, featuring a Congress ad for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. However, it quickly had to cease the ad from airing, as it violated the contract between them and BCCI.

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Congress aimed to make a splash with ads during IPL, especially since the broadcast rights holder claimed record-breaking TV viewership on the opening day of the T20 league.

For Star Sports, it represents a missed opportunity to earn incremental revenues.

As per the Media Rights Agreement (MRA) signed between BCCI and IPL media rights holders, "Slotting of any political and/or religious advertisements during transmission is not permitted."

However, Star Sports decided to take a risk by airing the advertisement not during the IPL Live broadcast, but rather during the pre and post-live programming.

Sources told BestMediaInfo.com that the advertisement had to be withdrawn, even during the post and pre-live broadcast, due to its inclusion of IPL footage. 

Political advertisements cannot be associated with any IPL content on the platform, emphasised sources.

The general elections are scheduled to take place between April 19 and June 1, 2024. IPL 2024 commenced on March 22 and will continue until May 29, 2024. 

Given that the audience targeted by political parties through ads aligns closely with the viewership of IPL on TV, it presented a perfect opportunity for political parties to showcase their prowess ahead of the polls.

An industry observer commented, "Given the clarity of the contract terms, why did the broadcaster allocate slots for Congress ads? There's likely more to this situation than meets the eye."

For the record, IPG Mediabrands’ Initiative Media is responsible for Congress’ media planning and buying. The agency refused to comment on the matter.

Star Sports too declined to provide any comment.

In 2019, Star Sports asked BCCI to waive off clause 8.6 (B) in the Media Rights Agreement and allow political ads during the league, but at that time the Supreme Court-appointed committee of administrators supervising BCCI decided to decline stating it didn’t want to mix politics with cricket. 

Not only did the political parties want to advertise on TV and JioCinema during IPL, but they also wished to take sponsorship of on-ground matches, but BCCI had always maintained its stance of not letting political parties meddle with cricket.