On a high, STAR bets big on today's India-West Indies clash

Friday's World Cup cricket match between India and the West Indies, at the WACA stadium in Perth (which has a capacity of 24,500), is expected to be a hit. STAR India, which has had a dream run so far, with 257 million viewers watching the India-South Africa tie across its eight channels, apart from the English feed provided to DD National, expects to score big with the match, especially as Friday is a national holiday in India, on account of Holi.

For the match, tickets through ICC's official ticketing portal have already been sold out, through one can still buy these through the ICC hospitality programme, albeit at a hefty premium. While standalone tickets are priced at A$5-60 (depending on the location of the seats), hospitality packages start at A$650. For the match, three kinds of hospitality packages are available - premium buffet (A$650 a person, which includes a ticket); private suites (A$6,700 for eight people to A$10,500 for 14 seats); and open boxes at A$4,050 and A$4,450 for eight and nine seats, respectively.

Official ICC travel packages for the match, which include a category-B match ticket (A$5-40 on a standalone basis) and a night's stay at a three-star or five-star hotel, have been sold out. One could, of course, try to buy tickets online, though these are few and could range from Rs 4,200 to Rs 27,000.

Many are already in Australia to watch the match and enjoy a long weekend in that country. Neelu Singh, chief operating officer of Ezeego1.com, says, "The Holi weekend has seen an additional increase of about 20 per cent in bookings. Apart from FIT (free, independent tourist), we have been getting a lot of bookings from companies. There are several meeting and incentive tour groups and corporate engagements planned in Australia to coincide with the match schedule. Our meeting and incentive tour bookings have increased 20-25 percent compared to last year."

"Our sales teams are reporting a 33 per cent increase in queries," said Jatinder Paul Singh, senior vice-president, Thomas Cook India.

Yatra.com had seen 50 per cent growth in bookings after India's first two matches in the World Cup, said the company's president, Sharat Dhall.

Advertisers sitting on the fence are now ready to pay a hefty premium for India's matches, given the team's dream run so far. "With fans showing unflinching faith in Team India, more brands are coming on board cricket's biggest extravaganza. For the India-West Indies match, we have added Hungama.com, Max Life Insurance, Hike, UP Tourism, Reliance Communications and JoyAlukkas as advertisers for the game," said a STAR India spokesperson. The India-West Indies match will see as many as 60-70 advertisers on feeds across the STAR India network.

The match is part of an advertising package STAR India is offering its commercial partners. The four or five-match package includes ads on select or all six language platforms on the network; each 10-second spot costs Rs 15-20 lakh (depending on the number of feeds chosen).

The flagship tournament has remained true to its billing as the most exciting cricket extravaganza, drawing 473 million viewers in two weeks. The highest rated non-India match was the one played between South Africa and West Indies (102 million viewers), followed by the Australia-England tie on the first day (about 100 million).

This time, multi-language feed has helped STAR India increase viewership in South Indian states. "Historically, viewership from South markets has been lower than HSM (Hindi-speaking market), 23 per cent lower for World Cup 2011 India matches. However, for the India-Pakistan match in this World Cup, South markets garnered as much viewership as HSM, with Tamil feed accounting for 64 per cent of the viewers in the state (TAM data, M15+ ABC)," said a STAR India spokesperson.

With inputs from Aneesh Phadnis

TUNED IN
Viewership data for matches played so far

• 473 mn: Cricket World Cup reach* to date
• 288 mn: Viewership of the India vs Pakistan match
• 257 mn: Viewership of the India vs South Africa match
• 102 mn: Viewership of the South Africa vs West Indies match, the most viewed non-India tie

* TAM data CS4+ extrapolated to the universe, using a standard conversion factor Source: STAR India

A blitzkrieg in the making?
On-ground specifications and on-air advertiser interest for Friday's India vs West Indies match
Venue: WACA, Perth
Capacity: 24,500
Single ticket price range: A$5 to A$60 (Rs 243 to Rs 2,915) on ICC's official ticket portal; Rs 4,201 to Rs 27,688 (minimum of two seats) on viagogo.com
Number of on-air brand associations: 60 to 70
Highest ad rate: Rs 20 lakh for a 10-second slot

Source: ICC Official World Cup 2015 website, STAR India