The ICC Test Championship Final in 2025 witnessed a sharp 71% drop in the number of advertisers compared to the 2023 edition, falling from 49 to just 14. A significant slump in advertising activity, with the number of categories, advertisers, and brands dropping by over 70% compared to the 2023 edition stands in sharp contrast to the 2023 final, which featured India and generated substantially higher engagement.
Specifically, categories declined from 44 to 13 (-70%), advertisers from 49 to 14 (-71%), and brands from 70 to just 14 (-80%), according to the TAM Sports – Advertising Report on ICC Test Championship 2023 and 2025.
In fact, while the second edition final between India and Australia had recorded a 7% growth in ad volumes over the inaugural Test Championship (India vs New Zealand), the 2025 final, played between Australia and South Africa, saw a steep 73% drop in ad volumes compared to the first edition.
Despite the overall slowdown, Star India (Jio Hotstar) emerged as the top advertiser in ICC TC ’25, whereas Maruti Suzuki India had led the charts in 2023. Interestingly, while the top 5 advertisers accounted for 28% of ad volumes in ICC TC’23, their contribution jumped to over 65% in the 2025 final, indicating a more concentrated advertising landscape.
Nearly 40% of total ad volumes came from the top five categories in both editions. Perfumes/Deodorants and Ecom-Media/Entertainment/Social Media consistently featured among the top categories, while Auto dominated in 2023 and Services led in 2025.
