MUMBAI: Star Sports, official broadcaster for the upcoming bilateral cricket series between India and England, has signed 18 brands as sponsors for the two-month tour by the Boys from Blighty, which kicks off Friday with the first Test in Chennai.
The sportscaster said that it has received keen interest from categories such as auto, ed-tech, e-commerce, automotive, insurance, financial services, gaming, and telecom. Sponsors onboarded are Dream 11, BYJU’s, OPPO, Ceat, Maruti Suzuki, Kamla Pasand, Orient, Amazon, Mondelez, Pepsi, Ultratech, Policy Bazaar, Exxon Mobil, Zomato, Havells, Paisabazaar, LIC and Lenskart.
While the network has not shared advertising sales figures, media reports estimate that parent company Disney India is expected to pull in Rs 5 billion from the 12-game series (four Tests, three ODIs, five T20).
The bilateral series will be broadcast on the Star Sports network and streamed on Disney+ Hotstar across five languages – English, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, and Telugu.
“There is high interest in the series post Team India’s remarkable Australia win. Also, the fact that the (four) Tests will decide India’s participation in the World Test Championship makes us confident of achieving record viewership. The series also marks the return of international cricket after a long gap. This has built great anticipation amongst the fans as well as advertisers,” said Anil Jayaraj, executive vice president, Star Sports.
“The two-month-long series will prove beneficial for brands, especially the day-night Test, which will be an exceptional opportunity for advertisers to leverage as the matches will be broadcast during prime-time,” he added.
The broadcaster claims that the consumption and reach of bilateral series on Star Sports have been growing year on year across consumer segments. As per the data provided by the network, the average reach for a bilateral series telecast on Star Sports for 2-3 weeks typically has been close to 190 million i.e. nearly every third ‘PAID TV viewer’ (30%) tune in.
With the upcoming series scheduled to have more telecast days compared to series in the past, the channel expects an even higher viewer turnout on TV. The data also indicates that bilateral series audiences are seen across all consumer segments – men, women, and kids.
Of the total bilateral series viewers, typically 46% of the audiences have been males above 15 years while 53% were women above 15 years and kids (2-14 years) put together, according to the network.
According to Star Sports, the consumption and reach of bilateral series have been growing year on year across consumer segments. With 20 playing days, the India v SL series held in Nov-Dec 2017 has generated a reach of 202 million views, while Ind vs west indies held in October-November 2018 has delivered 181 million views over 14 playing days.
The Avg. reach for a bilateral series on Star Sports telecast for 2-3 weeks typically has been close to 190 million (BARC; figures are @ 2+ U+R level) i.e. Nearly every third ‘PAID TV viewer’ (30%) tuned-in to watch the bilateral series telecast on Star Sports.
Star Sports has a fantastic calendar of cricket lined up for the year ahead, starting with India vs England, followed by the Indian Premier League in April, and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Live cricket in India will be back after long with the India vs England series.
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