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With Indian cricket fans keenly awaiting the ‘mother of all battles’ — the upcoming India-Pakistan World Cup match, which is expected to garner the highest number of eyeballs — Star Sports is learnt to be charging ₹20-25 lakh per 10 seconds for last-minute ad spot buys.
According to media buyers, while on an average ad slots have been sold at ₹8-10 lakh per 10 seconds for the World Cup packages, ad slots on India matches have been sold at ₹15-18 lakh per 10 seconds.
Sudhir Kumar, Director, Offline Media, DCMN India, said, “The broadcaster kept about 10-15 per cent of ad inventory of the India-Pakistan match to sell it at a premium for last-minute spot buys. After all, there is a lot of buzz around the match since it’s between the two rival nations and will be played out on prime time on a Sunday.”
Overall, Star is looking to rake in ₹1,500-2,000 crore from the World Cup and has signed on as many as 50 advertisers for the event.
Sujata Dwibedy, Group Trading Director, Amplifi, Dentsu Aegis Network India, added, “Star Sports is expected to earn nearly 20-25 per cent higher in terms of ad revenues from the India-Pakistan match compared to other India matches. The broadcaster has largely sold the ad inventory under various package deals.”
Under package deals, a majority of advertisers have already bought ad spots across all matches; or only India matches; or India matches along with some non-India matches, depending on their strategy, said media buyers. Only a few brands are said to have come on board in the past few days for the India-Pakistan match at such hefty price points for last-minute spot buys.
Advertisers do not get billed by the broadcaster at the end of the tournament for ad spots for washed-out matches.
The broadcaster could also look at compensating advertisers for washed-out matches by giving them ad spots on other India matches or matches of significance such as semi-finals, said a senior executive with a media buying firm.
Another media planner added that Star India has bought a comprehensive insurance cover for the World Cup to make up for the losses from washed-out matches.
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