Indian Premier League (IPL), the cash-rich cricket league has been a pioneer in cricket in many ways. Today we hear commentators shouting out 'Karbonn Kamaal Catch', 'DLF Maximum' and 'Citi Moment of Success'. Many first time viewers are left wondering as to what these terms mean. But this is just another idea to associate brands with cricket and increase awareness about the brands. IPL, indeed has taken the sponsorship and advertising to a different level all together.
In 2008, before the first season of IPL was started 8 official sponsors were roped in for the event. According to the agreement signed at the time all the revenue accruing from the sponsors falls under the central pool. Out of this 40 percent of the revenue would go to IPL, 54 percent to franchisees and 6% to prize money. The money will be distributed in these proportions till 2017, subsequently the share of IPL would be increased to 50%, while the franchisee share and prize money share would come down to 45% and 5% respectively.
The Third season of IPL has seen a mad rush of sponsors lining up to sponsors the mega event which is grabbing eyeballs in India as well as globally. According to reports from TAM Media Research Pvt. Ltd, in the first week TRP of Season 3 is said to 5.72% compared to last year’s overall TRP of 5.16%. Some of the official partners of IPL are as follows.
IPL Teams are also not to be left behind in the race to acquire new sponsors. Chennai Super Kings leads the pack with a staggering 18 sponsors while other teams are not far behind and on an average have around 15 sponsors each.
On the Advertising front also everything has been hunky dory for the IPL. This year’s IPL has seen a few more innovative marketing strategies. The two strategic time-out breaks of 2.5 minutes in each innings is timed perfectly to hold the interest of viewers. There are a few more innovations that IPL has brought in this year like ten second main screen ads that are shown in the middle of the overs while the viewers are glued to their TV sets. Companies would see this as a great way to break clutter and get their own space to advertise. This is a genial idea as viewers would not think about changing the channels as it is only a 10 second ad in the middle of an over. Currently Karbon, Micromax and Munch are using the service. IPL’s partnership with Youtube has also given the brands a new platform increasing the customer base with its entry into online forum. According to industry reports IPL stands to earn INR 40-45 crore (approx USD 8.9 million – USD 10.12 million) from selling a part or all of the 150 seconds of advertising inventory allotted to it per match by broadcast partner Multiscreen Media Pvt Ltd.
But again even when we acknowledge that IPL has been a brilliant sporting event and Lalit Modi has created a business model worth praising; IPL should not go the Superbowl way. Superbowl which is the championship game of the National Football League has gone on to become an advertising event more than a sporting event. The mega event guarantees viewership of 106.5 million but charges advertising cost of USD 2.5 million to USD 2.8 million for a 30 second ad. This has led to some of the leading advertisers like Pepsi and FedEx to stay away from the event this year. All cricket fans want IPL to be more about cricket than an advertising event because it is the passion for the game of cricket that has made IPL so popular.
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