Cricket has become a big business now, especially in a country like India where people follow it as a religion. The 2018 edition of Indian Premier League is days away to start and brands have already started to shower money for getting sponsorship during the IPL matches.
Indians spend hours while watching IPL games and marketers know the value of this event. Brands can target a large number of audience in a profitable manner during IPL. As many as 34 sponsors have already joined IPL 2018 and the management is waiting for other names to join them as most of the money that the board spends on IPL comes from these brands.
Also Read: Marketing strategy of Jio which ensures its presence in every IPL 2018 match
Star India Network is going to telecast IPL games for the first time by paying Rs 16,347.50 crores for 2018 to 2022. The head of ad sales for Star Sports, Anil Jayaraj revealed about the sponsors and said
“We are delighted with the response for the VIVO IPL 2018 from the brands across sectors. We are happy to announce that the brand tally is now 34. Brands are actively choosing VIVO IPL 2018 as the marketing vehicle to deliver their business ambitions in 2018 as they have a single media property which can appeal to demographics across geographies.”
Anil believes that digital audience has helped them to gain new sponsors who are interested in targeting viewers by showing ads on social media platforms and live streaming services such as Hotstar. Some of the brand names that have signed for sponsorship of IPL’s 11th season are Jio, Dream 11, Amul, Parle Agro, Vimal Pan Masala, Colgate, Kent, Vivo, Voltas, Coca-Cola, Dollar, Luminous, Blue Star, Ceat Tyres, Crompton, AMFI, Ford, Asian Paints, Berger Paints, Elica, Sleep Well, MakeMyTrip and Vu TV. BCCI has announced Paytm as the official umpire partner for IPL 2018.
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According to reports, IPL is aiming at Rs 2000 crores business from sponsors and they have managed to get sponsors of around Rs 800 crores. Every year the sponsorship amount is increasing at an average rate of 10-15 percent. With the involvement of so many celebrities and big corporate names, IPL is turning into more of a business event instead of a cricketing event.
We believe that changes are good for any game and sponsors should keep their eyes on the other sports events in the country too as Kabbadi and Football are also gaining popularity in the country and these sports need support of investors to grow and increase the level of competition.
What do you think over the money that IPL involves? Do let us know about your thoughts in the comment section.
