The Hindu Business Line : ‘Star-studded’ domestic cricket fails to impress advertisers

New Delhi, Dec. 10 Aamir and Shah Rukh Khan are likely to drop by for the finals of the Indian Cricket League’s (ICL) tournament next week. Kareena Kapoor and Mallika Sherawat have danced to packed audiences at the Chandigarh stadium. But it is leaving advertisers unimpressed.

Domestic cricket in its new avatar, “a confluence of entertainment and cricket” as Essel Group’s Mr Ashish Kaul describes it, is doing all it can to make the proposition attractive. The stars alone are costing ICL anywhere between Rs 10 lakh and 15 lakh for their 10 -20 minutes appearances. It has also sold its channel across Europe, the UK, Africa, Sri Lanka and Malaysia amongst other countries for a reported $10 million. “I am confident ratings will triple before the finals,” says Mr Kaul.

Neo Sports, the rights holder to BCCI’s domestic cricket, claims its Challenger series scored even better ratings (with an average of 0.58 and peaking at 1.8 TVR) and is expecting to notch a 1 TVR for the upcoming 25 One-Day-Internationals of the Premier Cup.

Mr Sanjay Bhoer, VP-Marketing and Sales Strategy, says Neo re-branded domestic cricket, turned Ranji Trophy into the Super League, Deodhar into All Star Series, brought in colour clothing and day and night matches. Neo has ramped up its distribution and expects to have an even better coverage by January when the tournament takes place. “Currently, we have 60 per cent penetration and expect to cover 80-85 per cent of cable and satellite homes before the end of this month,” says Mr Arun Poddar, President, Affiliate Sales, Neo.

But advertisers are not buying into the optimism. “Domestic cricket is not flying for a while. If Aamir and Shah Rukh have to prop up cricket, then that is the day,” says Mr Sundar Raman, Managing Director, MindShare. Success can be claimed only when domestic cricket is sold on it own, says Ms Basabdatta Chowdhuri, COO, Madison Media Plus. “And as of now domestic cricket, which is being sold as a package, will still have to bank on other international events,” she adds.

The Twenty20 format is the future of cricket and there’s certainly interest for BCCI’s league cricket IPL, says another analyst. ICL could have chosen a better time. “Post-Diwali there’s already a dip in advertising spend, and it also clashed with the India-Pakistan series which commands a premium and probably sucked whatever money there is,” said the analyst.

More Stories on : Advertising | Strategy | Sports

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page