 "Advertisers pay big bucks for slot during India-Pak Champions Trophy clash")
Advertisers are banking on the much-awaited cricket match between arch rivals India and Pakistan in the Champions Trophy in Dubai on Sunday, hoping to record as many eyeballs as possible for their brands, as the historic clash between the two countries is expected to break its previous TV viewership record of 173 million in 2023.
The companies are forking out a staggering Rs 50 lakh for a ten-second spot during the match, which is nearly three times more than in an IPL match (rates for matches in the run offs of IPL are at around Rs 18 lakh for 10 seconds).
According to those aware of the development, more than 90 per cent of the inventory has already been sold out for the Sunday’s match, and prices for the rest could go even higher.
In 2023, the India-Pakistan match had a TV viewership of 173 million on Disney-Star network and Doordarshan and as many as 225 million watched it digitally on Disney Hotstar. Not only this, the match had 76 million peak concurrencies on TV, while on digital, it was 35 million.
The Sunday’s match will be available on Star Sports and the Jio Hotstar app.
The sponsors for the high-intensity battle include Dreams 11, Vodafone-Idea, ICICI Bank, Eicher Motors (which is launching its electric mobike), Birla Pus Opus- the cement brand- and Pernod Ricard, amongst others.
“An India-Pakistan match is always a major tent pole on the cricket calendar. Despite Pakistan having declined somewhat as a cricket superpower, the sub-continental rivalry has remained alive over the years. The match advertisers expect they will get record eyeballs, so every brand wants a piece of the action,” Dr Sandeep Goyal, chairman, Rediffusion, said.
However, he also cautioned that the match needs to outdo the 2023 performance to justify the stiff price tag for companies to get value for the bucks.
The last time the two teams clashed was in 2023 in the major ICC 50-over World Cup which was held in Ahmedabad and India won a resounding victory on a sub par Pakistan total. At that time, the going rate for a 10-second slot was of course lower at around Rs 30- 40 lakh.
Whatever the consequences, according to ICC sources, tickets for the match have been sold out in minutes of the bookings getting open. Even the sale of extra tickets for the match on February 16 were also sold out in no time, especially with the large diaspora from both the countries living in the UAE. The prices ranged between Rs 11,800 and Rs 3 lakh. However, according to reports, tickets on sites were available from over Rs 18 lakh, even with offers of as high as Rs 56 lakh.