The news of another cricket league, shorter than the shortest format of cricket currently — the 20-over Indian Premier League (IPL) — has evoked mixed response from advertisers and media experts. While the whole idea is still in the ‘pre-planning’ stage, some media reports suggested that the new T10 league might be kicked off as early as September 2024 and that BCCI secretary Jay Shah is already working on the nitty-gritty of the proposed league.
“There is never too much cricket in India,” says Vivek Gupta, managing director (research), Ipsos India. Gupta says a shorter format implies quicker results so there is no question of viewer fatigue setting in. “I would call it the sachet version of cricket for viewers,” he says. Ergo, there will be no dearth of advertisers.
Some big advertisers on cricket are gung-ho about a new cricket property. “There would be greater interest and excitement from advertisers for this property because it’s cricket, a sport that everyone loves, and also because it will be in a shorter format. It might give an opportunity to regional/smaller advertisers to also advertise during the league,” says Krishnarao Buddha, senior category head, marketing, Parle Products, the maker of Parle-G, Hide & Seek, and KrackJack biscuits. The brand is a big spender on IPL on television because cricket is “tried and tested” and television offers the benefit of “co-viewing”.
Others are not so sure. Profitability of general entertainment channels is higher than sports/cricket channels and they wouldn’t want to cannibalise the GEC ad pool, they argue. So, much will depend on “how creatively the league is organised, who the broadcast platforms are and what the advertising rates are like”, says a sports broadcaster.
The moot question is, will advertisers bite? Cricket is already a significant percentage of India’s sports ad expenditure. Media planners say close to 80% of Rs 16,000 spent on sports in 2023 went into cricket, across formats for both men’s and women’s games. “The overall ad pie is unlikely to grow because of one more event. Yes, some money will get reallocated from one property to another,” says a Mumbai-based brand marketer and big spender on sports properties on television.
Don’t compare it with IPL though, warn experts. “The organisers really have to think creatively this time, with IPL well entrenched in the entertainment space,” he says. One thing that the league organisers should do is to build excitement around it. A big bang launch can help, said Ipsos’ Gupta.
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