India’s exit from the ICC world cup 2019 has left Indian fans around the world heartbroken which is to likely affect the advertising revenue of Star Sports, the official broadcaster of the tournament.
If reports are to be believed Star Sports is likely to face a loss of Rs.10-15 crores after India’s ouster from the tournament as they were expected to charge as high as ₹25-30 lakh per 10 second for last minute ad spots if India played the finals which currently is expected to be sold for Rs.15-17 lakhs.
“Although India’s exit is disappointing, but still this has been a bonanza time for brands with more than 100 days of non-stop cricket action divided between the Indian Premier League (IPL) and ICC World Cup,” said Sandeep Goyal, chairman, Mogae Media, a Mumbai-based marketing and communication agency.
Harsha Joshi, an independent media consultant, said that since Star has been selling ads in bundled deals, leaving a small inventory for last minute buys, there may not be significant revenue loss.
“But the opportunity of selling a few last-minute spots has been lost because of India’s exit,” she said, adding that even if the broadcaster had sold the inventory at ₹30 lakh per 10 second, it would have made an additional ₹8-10 crore.
“Brands do pay the huge premium, often launching new products/services, during a World Cup finale match as it offers tremendous reach,” she added.
The broadcaster at present is expected to make ₹1,800 crore in ad revenues from the global cricket extravaganza, which will conclude on 14 July.
A typical World Cup match has a run about 5,500 seconds of total ad inventory, while during the finale, depending on the demand, Star can load up to 7,000 seconds of inventory, which can further increase its ability to make revenue. Star has signed over 40 top advertisers, including PhonePe, OnePlus, Havells, Amazon, Dream11, MRF Tyres, Coca-Cola, Uber, Mondelez, Oppo, Philips , Ceat Tyres, Swiggy, Airtel, Vodafone, Netflix, Paisabazaar and ICICI Lombard, among others.
“It’s a long period at the peak of summers, which means certain brand categories that do not advertise during this time, also came on board to get consumer eyeballs through World Cup matches,”noted Mogae Media’s Goyal.
The broadcaster is expected to generate between ₹1,200 crore and ₹1,500 crore through television advertising and an additional ₹300 crore on its video streaming platform Hotstar, according to estimates by media buyers which are more than double the ₹700 crore revenue that Star had booked in the 2015 World Cup.
The last season of Indian Premier League successfully generated advertising revenues worth Rs.2,500 crores for the official broadcasting sponsor.
