How much money is spent on IPL advertising every year?

For years, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been more than just a cricket tournament. The tournament has become a staple in Indian households and has spread to more than 15 countries with millions of fans watching each match.

In the 2024 season, the broadcaster announced that more than 510 million viewers watched the match. This huge figure was reached after only 51 games, with 23 to go. According to statistics, the first ten games of the season alone attracted more than 350 million fans.

With more people tuning in to watch the intense action of athletes clashing on the field, IPL has become a hotbed of advertising. Each year, the contest has attracted millions in advertising revenue from companies hoping to convert viewers into customers.

While the IPL itself spends little on advertising, what companies pay for ad spots during the event is staggering. Here, we will look at how much competition attracts in terms of investment in advertising, which advertising methods are the most popular, and which industries spend the most time during the competition.

Advertising Channels

The many unique advertising opportunities offered by the tournament are spread across several genres.

TV set

Still considered to be the main form of advertising during IPL events, television commercials account for the majority of IPL’s advertising revenue. Offering more ad spots during the same period, many brands spend huge sums of money on television ads to capture the attention of millions of tuning in viewers.

Digital

Digital advertising includes social media ads, website display ads, and video ads presented on online streaming platforms. As more and more viewers migrate to watching sports on digital platforms due to accessibility and convenience, the ad revenue earned in this way has seen a steady increase.

Team Sponsorship

One of the most prominent ways the company advertises itself during the IPL is team sponsorship. This allows the brand to display its logo on the team jersey as well as during the team’s promotional activities and merchandising.

In the field

In-field ads allow advertisers to have their product displayed regularly during the game. These ad spots primarily appear on billboards around the arena but can also include brand logos painted on the arena itself.

The radio

Although they are not as popular as already mentioned, radio ads are still a suitable way to attract the attention of a brand. These ads come in a variety of forms, from sponsored segments to ad spots shared within game comments.

Advertising Industries

Despite advertising spots open to companies in almost any industry, some are more aggressive in their marketing than others—especially during IPL seasons. These companies represent certain industries that tend to advertise more than others.

Among these are e-commerce companies, mobile device manufacturers, fun sports websites, fintech (financial technology) brands, and edtech (educational technology) companies. These companies spend millions to advertise their products during prime ad spots.

Although companies from these industries are legitimate, the IPL is facing increasing challenges to ensure that all advertisements using the IPL hype are over the top. The government has identified instances of illegal betting sites using IPL names or events to promote services and attract customers with minor cricket matches.

These ads, which rely on fans’ love for the tournament and the game, prey on consumers and entice them to engage with illegal suppliers. This not only causes damage to the IPL by using the illegal organization these brands claim to have but also exposes players to unsafe sites they want to take advantage of. In addition, these sites damage the reputation of legitimate websites such as those reviewed on casinos.com.

Advertising Use

The above industries spend huge amounts of money on advertisements during IPL through the above mentioned methods. By 2022, the IPL attracted an estimated revenue of Rs 4,000 crore (about US$540 million). These are produced in all languages, and television brings in about R3,000 crore (or about US$405 million).

By 2023, the tournament has earned an estimated Rs 5,000 crore (about $675 million). Again, much of this is done through television ads, and digital ads are also growing and playing a bigger role.

This growth is clearly explained in the advertising revenue earned through Disney+ Hotstar—the digital broadcast partner that enables access to IPL matches. By 2022, the service earned ₹600 crore (about US$81 million) from advertising. This has increased to Rs 1,000 crore (about $135 million) by 2023.

Sponsorships and stadium ads have also brought in a lot of money, most of it from private companies, such as car manufacturer Tata Group paying R670 crore (about $90.5 million) for sponsorships and ad spots between the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

Future Marketing Challenges

Although the IPL has attracted considerable revenue over the years, it has declined slightly in 2024 due to a number of factors, particularly competition from other major sporting events held during the year. These include the T20 World Cup, the IPL, and the Olympics.

In addition to advertisers carefully choosing their budgets for many events, the increase in advertising costs, especially television ads, has made companies more cautious about how they spend their money.

While a 10-second ad a few years ago cost R2-3 lakh (around US$3,500), the same ad in 2024 costs around R12-15 lakh (around $18,000). This dramatic increase can quickly eat into a company’s advertising budget and make brands aware of when and how they advertise. The final challenge facing the IPL is that the advertising industry has changed in 2024.

While fintech, e-commerce, and other new-age companies tend to be some of the biggest spenders, these industries don’t command a lot of ad space. Instead, industries such as FMCG and paint are leading the way without spending a fortune.

All this has brought the revenue collected through IPL advertising to margins that may rise or fall in the coming years. However, given the large amount of money spent each year, a slight drop is unlikely to have a significant impact on competition.