Cricket on the advertiser's mind

Still the best game in town, but the way brands engage with the sport is changing

With STAR Sports’ Rs 16, 347.50-crore bid for the Indian Premier League, attention is back on an issue that never really loses its thrill: cricket’s abiding commercial pull for advertisers. No matter what the product, or who the target audience, ad rates for cricket have demonstrated gravity-defying abilities, encouraging broadcasters to bet big and charge high. Is this justified?

That is not the right question to ask say, experts. It is not whether cricket can still be the cash cache for television, but are brands and broadcasters ready for the way the sponsorships game has changed? 

“A medium like a cricket is unarguably best served to amplify the brand’s agenda by delivering pan-India reach and maximum impact (highest aggregated audiences on a single platform). Advertisers see value for this delivery,” says a Star India spokesperson.

True, but campaign delivery is more than just reach according to planners. The sports landscape for brands and broadcasters is rapidly evolving. Several studies indicate that there are big shifts in consumer engagement trends, because of the availability of new media, the emergence of non-traditional branding opportunities, rise of non-cricket sports leagues and the increasing phenomenon of sports stars turning themselves into brands with their own line of products, services or social causes. So even as cricket remains the best platform, the way brands want to engage with the game has changed. 

More games, more choice

Over the past few years, multiple non-cricket leagues have emerged. While tennis and football have long had a presence (mostly through international match telecasts), it was kabaddi that tipped the scales. According to a report by Sportzpower and ESP (Sporting nation in the making), cricket sponsorship grew by about six per cent in 2016 to Rs 563 crore. But the contribution of cricket to total sponsorship revenue went down by three per cent. 

Still, cricket is hard to beat. IPL had a reach of 361 million viewers in 2016 and more than 400 million this year. In comparison, Pro Kabaddi had a reach of 271 million viewers in 2016 (2017 numbers not available yet). But cricket is also the most expensive property. Inventory rates for cricket continue to be nearly 40 per cent more than other sports. 

Higher rates bring in the moolah; Sony Pictures Network (SPN) clocked Rs 1,300 crore in ad revenue from this year’s IPL and Star Sports would look to expand the pie several fold over the next five years. For the upcoming India-Australia series, Star India has roped in nine on-air sponsors, with inventory rates expected to go up to Rs 8 lakh for 10 seconds by the end of the series. 

The series coincides with the festive season, the peak time for advertisers and broadcasters and that has helped drive up rates. “We believe this series is best positioned to help us achieve maximum reach in a cluttered festive season environment,” says Saujanya Shrivastava, group chief marketing officer, MakeMyTrip, one of the sponsors. 

Reach plus engagement

Maximum reach is not the only thing brands want; engagement with fans, conversations on social media and other measures are important too.

Brands are set to get more demanding with cricket, given high rates. 

While ad rates are unlikely to come down, brands could ask for clauses in the agreement that let them exploit the cricket fever far longer than the tournament lasts, point out experts. Such terms could also help mitigate the risks of a tournament being a washout. 

“Most contracts have some caveats for correction in rates in case of matches being washed out.

But in case of matches or the series being one-sided, there are no guarantees,” says a planner. Here data could come to the rescue.

Ramakrishnan Subramanian, CEO Sports Mechanics explains in a report on sponsorships. Cashing in on game data gives sports organisations an extra edge to create additional revenue streams. 

Plus new age media helps in serving the consumers and fans by delivering an unprecedented second screen experience for the mobile user, he said.

Star India has an edge given its combined bid for television and digital, but the challenge will be slicing the ad pie to not just appease brands in case of a washed out match, but also to increase the life of the association between the brand, the game, and the cricketers. 

Rights, content and IP

According to a recent survey by Nielsen Global (Commercial trends in sports 2017), what changes the brand equation with all games — be it football, cricket, basketball — is that they are being played at a time when content is viewed as the most prized possession. The report finds that athletes are increasingly engaging with fans directly, authentically and on their own terms driving behavioural changes among brands and consumers.

India is in a similar situation, already players such as Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh have their own line of apparel or fitness gear or a digital business. Many newcomers are going the same route and offering brands a way to engage with the large universe of cricket fans without sponsoring a match on any platform. The opportunity pie for brands is expanding; even if it does not dent the power of the big networks, it will force a change in the way they engage with advertisers and viewers.