MUMBAI: So much for all the talk that competition for advertising rupees from the upcoming general elections would make it especially tough for Star India to meet its revenue targets for this year’s Indian Premier League. The country’s leading broadcast network is set to rake in over Rs 30 billion in advertising revenues alone from the IPL, a sharp jump over the previous season, when it had grossed Rs 21.5 billion across TV and digital platforms.
The 12th edition of the world’s most lucrative Twenty20 league is scheduled to begin from 23 March and will coincide with parliamentary elections, which are set to be held across India in seven phases during the months of April and May.
Two industry stalwarts SportzPower spoke to separately said Star had more or less sold out its advertising inventory and all that it had left over were spot buys.
As for the numbers, SportzPower has been told that when Star closes its books on advertising revenues from this year’s IPL, it will clock in the region of Rs 25 billion from television and Rs 5 billion via Hotstar, as compared to 2018 where Rs 17.5 billion was grossed from across the Star Sports channels and Rs 3 billion billed by its OTT platform.
Star India MD Sanjay Gupta had indicated as much to SportzPower late last week when the subject was broached during an exclusive and expansive interaction: “This year overall has been a better year from an advertising perspective. There are many more business opportunities such as payment companies (PhonePe, Amazon Pay) and education companies (Byju’s), service companies (UrbanClap) online. These are new categories to make the most of.
“With GST, FMCG companies growth is going through the roof, which is increasing demand and hence for us, it is a great sign.”
Star CEO Gautam Thakar echoed Gupta, stating: “We learnt a lot from 2018. How Hotstar and TV can make a combined offering for example. Consumer, advertiser preparation has been much better this time. IPL really worked for us, a rewarding journey it has been so far.”
Looking at the ad sales numbers that are being thrown up around IPL 2019, Thakar was being modest to a fault.
For the record, advertisers that have come on board across the Star Sports network are PhonePe, Oppo, Coca Cola, Swiggy, Maruti, Dream11, MRF, MakeMyTrip, Voltas, Asian Paints, Samsung LED, Future Group, Byju’s, Vimal Paan Masala, Mondelez, MPL and Polycab. as for Hotstar, they include Swiggy, Amazon Pay, Dream11, Coca Cola, Flipkart, Maruti Suzuki, Nestle Maggi and Madhura Garments.
On a related note, Star Sports’ petition to the Board of Control for Cricket in India to allow political advertisements during the upcoming IPL has been rejected, according to a report by Indian Express.
Looking to cash in on the election frenzy, the broadcaster had written to the BCCI asking them to allow political advertisements during the IPL season last week, Times of India had first reported.
However, the cricket board is not keen to mix sports with politics and will stick with policy on this. The Media Rights Agreement, signed between BCCI and Star, clearly states under Clause 8.6 (B) that “slotting of any political and/or religious advertisements during transmission is not permitted.”
The Indian Express report added that the issue was discussed in great detail during a meeting on Monday by the Supreme Court appointed Committee of Administrators, where it was decided that the BCCI will not allow any political-religious advertisement during bilateral, international or domestic tournaments held under its banner.
Star’s request to the BCCI had pointed out the ‘tremendous revenue potential’ of the election season, ahead of hosting the 2019 edition.
