STAR India has the broadcast rights.
Advertisers have made a rush for the debut Twenty20 India vs. West Indies international series in the United States, comprising of two matches over the weekend in Florida.
STAR India, which has the broadcast rights of the two T20 internationals, the first of which begins on Saturday, has four sponsors on board, reported Business Standard. They include Vivo as the co-presenting sponsor and Hero, Airtel and Karbonn as associate sponsors, say media planners and buyers in direct knowledge of these developments.
The four sponsors came on board despite ad rates being higher than those charged during this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL), which concluded in May. STAR, which will telecast the tournament on two sports channels (one standard definition, the other high definition), has pegged sponsorship rates at Rs 6-6.25 lakh for a 10-second slot, while spot buys have been pegged at Rs 6.5 lakh for 10 seconds.
Sony Pictures Network, IPL’s official broadcaster, on the other hand, had pegged 10-second ad rates on standard definition this year at Rs 5.5-5.75 lakh, while ad rates on high-definition were pegged at Rs 1.5-1.75 lakh for 10 seconds.
“T20 is one of the most exciting cricketing formats. Advertisers’ interest, despite the high price, is not surprising,” says R Venkatasubramanian, senior vice-president, Initiative Media, part of the IPG Mediabrands network, was quoted as saying by Business Standard.
Industry sources say STAR is expected to get at least 10-15 spot buyers for the two-day tournament, taking its total advertiser count to 20. While this is lower than the nearly 80 advertisers that came on board for the IPL this year, the latter was held over a two-month period between April and May.
Interestingly, Paytm, which has the title sponsorship rights for all of India’s domestic and international cricket matches played at home for four years, will remain the title sponsor for the two T20s in the US. In a statement on Friday, Anurag Thakur, president, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said the Paytm association would further strengthen the body’s existing partnership
While the deal size was not specified by BCCI, industry estimates are that the two-day tournament would have cost Paytm about Rs 5 crore. The e-commerce major had forked out Rs 203.28 crore for the four-year domestic contract it bagged in 2015. STAR, in the interim, paid Rs 32 crore for the broadcast rights of the two-day India-West Indies tournament.