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The 2014 FIFA World Cup is expected to be the next big ticket property after the Indian Premier League (IPL) for official broadcaster, Sony Six, as the company is projecting advertising revenue of about ₹200 crore from the football extravaganza.
“We are selling ad spots at ₹2.5 lakhs for 10 seconds and expect revenue to almost touch ₹200 crore for the 64 matches,” said Rohit Gupta, President, Network Sales, Multi Screen Media (the owner of Sony Six).
However, there will be less airtime at 800 seconds for a FIFA match compared to an IPL match at 2,400 seconds, where ad revenues already crossed ₹500 crore this season, according to the official broadcaster.
Presenting sponsorship rates on Sony Six have been pegged between ₹18 crore and ₹20 crore, while associate sponsorship rates hover between ₹13 to ₹15 crore.
Prasana Krishnan, Business Head, Sony Six said, “IPL 7 had almost 225 million viewers. We expect nearly 60 per cent of this viewership for the FIFA World Cup.” However, so far, the channel has managed to get only a single sponsorship deal with Xolo Mobiles. “We expect some overlap of the advertisers and sponsors between IPL and the FIFA World Cup and will be closing sponsorship deals by next week,” added Gupta.
However, media planners are not sure whether their clients would have enough advertising budgets to spare, having exhausted most of it during the elections and IPL.
“Categories such as beverages may not advertise as the season is almost over. However, telecom, auto and e-commerce companies may still be willing to spend on the football world cup,’’ said Prashant Kumar, Managing Partner (South Asia), Group M Trading.
Bad timingBesides, the timing of some of final matches during early morning hours is also expected to make advertisers cautious while investing behind the global property.
FIFA’s connect with the youth is expected to make brands jump on board. As Mallikarjun Das, CEO, Starcom Media Vest Group, another media buying agency said, “Soccer is gaining popularity in India especially among SEC A consumers. Brands are showing a lot of interest in putting their money on FIFA.’’
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