India's SA sojourn to bring in Rs 120 cr for Ten Sports

90% of the inventory has been sold. Ten Sports is looking to increase ad rates for the remaining 10% by 20%, for spot

Zee Entertainment Enterprises' sports channel Ten Sports is targeting ad revenues to the tune of Rs 120 crore for the upcoming India-South Africa series to be held in South Africa.

The series kicks off on December 5, comprises three one-day international (ODI) matches and two Test matches.

The broadcaster has 12 associate sponsors and co-presenters and is looking at signing at least three more deals before the series starts. Apart from this, Ten Sports has also seen rapid sale of inventory for spot placements as well.

Rajesh Sethi, CEO, Ten Sports, reveals, "We have seen a very keen interest from advertisers in the series. It has taken us by surprise. We have already sold nearly 90 per cent of our inventory and of that, 60 per cent has been taken by sponsors and co-presenters. Seeing the response, we are looking at increasing the ad rates for the remaining 10 per cent of inventory by 20 per cent." The remaining 10 per cent will predominantly be sold for spot-buys.

As a thumb rule, for an overseas series like India- South Africa, a 10-second spot for ODIs goes for Rs 3-3.5 lakh and for Test matches, around Rs 60,000 to Rs 1 lakh.

For the co-presenting partnerships and associate sponsorships, the sponsors have shelled out Rs 6 crore and Rs 8 crore, respectively.

The broadcaster has also roped in sponsors for the studio show that will precede and follow the live telecast of the game. Kent (reverse osmosis water purifier) is the title sponsor for the studio show and iBall (electronic goods) is the co-presenting sponsor.

For the main event, the co-presenter is mobile handset company Micromax. The associate sponsors include Vodafone, Xolo, Tata Motors, We Chat (mobile app), Go Daddy, Havells, Daiki and ITC. Since the matches will be played in South Africa, the title sponsorship for the series will be decided by the Cricket Board of South Africa.

According to Sethi, the response of advertisers to the series is due to two main reasons. One, there is an increased interest in the performance of the Indian cricket team as this is the first series after Sachin Tendulkar's retirement and the viewers are curious to know how the young guns will perform.

The other factor working for the overseas series is that the timings of the matches coincide with Indian prime-time on television. This has made advertisers optimistic about investing in it.

The broadcaster has undertaken a massive promotional campaign for the series across media. "The campaign has been conceptualised around the theme of speed vs skill, considering the South African team is known for its pace attack," says Sethi.

Apart from hoardings, Ten Sports is organising road-shows in the metros to increase viewer engagement.

Rival Star Sports, which has rights to all BCCI matches, had recently undertaken a re-branding blitzkrieg. It spent Rs 80-100 crore on the exercise, timing it with Tendulkar's last international cricket series. Ten Sports, then, would look to leverage the series as it is being organised by one of the five boards it has telecast rights to (the others being Zimbabwe, Pakistan, West Indies and Sri Lanka).