IPL 2018: Higher rates discourage advertisers from buying in key slots

The Indian Premier League (IPL) is all set to enter in its new decade on April 7 this year and the BCCI is not leaving any stone unturned to make it a huge event. Even the global media rights of the tournament went through massive bids before Star India aquired it for a whopping amount of Rs 16,347 Crore. However, Star might find it tough to recover the costs as sponsors are preferring to stay away from the tournament probably due to the high rate of sponsorship.

The broadcast giant recently named 11 advertisers which will be televised during the course of the cash-rich league. But several familiar names were starkly missing from the list. Star has gathered the IPL media rights for five years from 2018 and are planning to recover the costs by telecasting the high-profile tournament in 6 different languages across 12 channels apart from the live streaming on Hotstar. They’ve reportedly planned to generate Rs. 2000 crores from TV and digital ad sales in the first year.

Sponsors preferring wrap-around shows

According to the reports on My Khel only Vivo (the title sponsors), Coca Cola, Parle, AMFI and Poly Cabs are keen on advertising during the live telecast. Remaining six sponsors comparatively small investors and they want to take the slots on Hotstar and wrap-around shows which take place during the matches which is the less expensive option. It is reported that the companies are finding the rate of sponsorship too high which is Rs 10 Lakh per 10 seconds.

Star officials are yet to comment on the matter but the markel experts feel that the reluctance of the investors is sue to the high cost. “It’s possible that the investors are turned off by the high asking price set by the Star. It is also possible that some big time sponsors are waiting for Star to reduce the price under pressure to find sponsors,” a market analyst told My Khel.

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