After a rip-roaring season of IPL in 2020, Star India is all set to present to us with IPL 2021, which will be kicking off in April. However, before the tournament kick-starts, talks of an official hike in the ad rates by 20-25 percent are afoot.
According to sources, the ad rates for IPL 2021 may vary anywhere between Rs 5 lakhs to Rs 14 lakhs for 10 seconds. However, the rate of sponsorship is more or less going to be the same this season like it was that in the preceding season. It is stated that the associate sponsorship will be in the range of Rs 65-70 crores, co-presenting will most likely cost between Rs 110-120 crores.
A senior media-planner cited, “IPL has always been the biggest sporting tournament of the year and advertisers do keep their budgets ready for this. Since the last season delivered outstanding performance and established a new record will definitely reflect an increase in ad rates for the next season. However, currently, talks are happening between the network and agencies. The official conversation is yet, to begin with, the clients.”
The preceding season of IPL shattered all records of IPL in terms of viewership and revenue. The delayed season of the tournament surpassed the viewership of 2019 by a staggering 23 per cent while a total viewership of 400 million viewing minutes. The advertisement too leapt up by 4 per cent in ad volumes as per the data released by Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC).
Another senior media planner apprised on the stipulation of anonymity, “As of now, talks are only between junior-level employees of agencies and Star. However, Star will initiate formal meetings and float prices only after the BCCI announces the final schedule and match rates will also differ as per days and schedules.” He also added that Star has made countless video calls in order to display presentations that saw a hike of 33 per cent from last season.
In IPL 2020, Star roped in 18 sponsors before the outset of the fray while they also signed up 117 advertisers. Among the associate sponsors who were roped in, there are Dream11, PhonePe, BYJU’S, VI, and Amazon, while the co-presenting sponsors were Mondelez, ITC Foods, Polycab, Diageo, P&G, Coca Cola, Hero, Facebook, KP Group, Daily Hunt, Samsung, Cred, and AMFI.
The ad rates in the previous edition were priced at Rs 12.5 lakhs per 10 seconds while in the forthcoming edition the rates are supposed to go up to almost Rs 14 lakhs per 10 seconds.
