Brands are continuing to repose faith in the Indian Premier League and believe that it is the fastest way to stay in the limelight. Both linear and digital broadcasters are seeing a near sell out of their advertising inventory ahead of this year’s season starting on April 5.

“Our inventory for the upcoming matches are sold out. Brands realise that there is no viewer fatigue at least when it comes to IPL and continue to invest in the sport. We have 14 major sponsors,” said Rohit Gupta, President, Network Sales, Sony Pictures Network.

SPN expects to clock ₹1,300 crore revenue against ₹1,100 crore in 2016. Sony had acquired the broadcasting right for IPL in 2007. Gupta said the spot rates for the SPN stood at ₹5.7 lakh per ten second spot. Sony’s sponsors include Ceat Tyres, Yamaha Motors and Vimal Paan Masala, Parel Afro’s Frooti and wire maker Polycab.

Broadcaster like SPN have different rates for standard definition (SD) and high definition feeds (HD).

“With our inventory sold out, we are now charging ₹6.25 lakh for an SD feed, while it is ₹8 lakh for an HD feed,” he added.

IPL will host 56 matches. Each IPL match has around 2,300 seconds of ad inventory. The rates for an IPL ad are in 10 second slots. Typically, a title sponsor will buy a minimum of 300 seconds every match paying close to ₹5 lakh per second. Smaller sponsors cough up close to ₹5.75 lakh every 10 seconds, while spot buys of ads cost ₹6 lakh every 10 seconds.

But brands are not grumbling considering the reach the IPL commands.

“IPL is a perfect combination of sports and entertainment. We expect to attract significant eyeballs in our second year of association with IPL. It will be a busy and exciting sporting seasons,” said Sanjay Vakharia, Director and COO, Spykar Lifestyle.

He said that the company had got significant brand recall and mileage in the southern markets and even rural markets.

OPPO Mobile, which won the apparel and gear sponsorship rights for Team India for a whopping ₹1079.29 crore too, says it is backing its growth on IPL.

Sky Lee, Global VP & President of OPPO Mobiles India, said: “Cricket in India isn’t just a sport, it is also a way of life, a culture, even a religion. OPPO is the most adorable youth centralised brand, we aim at reaching new heights alongside the Indian cricket team.”

Non-linear or digital platforms such as Hotstar have also announced Vivo and Maruti Suzuki as co-presenting sponsors.

IPL’s cumulative reach is estimated at $4.16 billion in 2016, according to global valuation and corporate finance advisor Duff & Phelps.

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