 "Bonanza! Rs 550 cr investment to drive brand-influencer collab in IPL 2025")
The cricketing extravaganza is here! Over the past 17 seasons, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has not only generated revenue for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) but also for the many fans who eagerly follow the matches.
In the past two years, with social media penetrating different corners of India, influencers have also earned huge sums of money courtesy of the IPL. And IPL 2025—the 18th season—is set to be a marketing goldmine, with brands expected to pump in Rs 550 crore into influencer-driven campaigns.
According to an analysis by Qoruz, an influencer marketing intelligence platform, IPL 2025 is expected to witness an unprecedented surge in influencer collaborations, as businesses capitalise on the tournament’s massive digital footprint.
Qoruz, a leading influencer marketing intelligence platform, tracks over 3,000 brands and their influencer marketing activities.
Entertainment and FMCG Brands Lead the Charge
Breaking down the Rs 550-crore influencer marketing spend, Qoruz’s analysis reveals that entertainment and streaming platforms will dominate the space, accounting for 30 per cent of the total investment. Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) will contribute 25 pe rcent, followed by consumer electronics (15 per cent), e-commerce and direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands (15 per cent), and the automobile industry (10 per cent).
"We see a surge in non-sponsoring brands investing in influencer collaborations, as the IPL season generates high engagement across social media. Whether officially affiliated or not, brands recognise that influencers offer an authentic way to engage fans during this cricketing extravaganza," said Aditya Gurwara, Co-Founder and Head of Brand Alliances at Qoruz.
The power of Influencers in IPL campaigns
IPL 2024 witnessed a staggering 3.2 billion social media engagements from over 3,15,000 influencer posts, a number set to be surpassed in IPL 2025 as brands intensify their digital strategies. The previous edition saw micro-influencers dominating the space, contributing to 56.27 percent of all influencer content.
The most popular content categories last year included:
- Sports-related content: 47.46 percent
- Entertainment content: 23.60 percent
- Meme-based campaigns: 7.27 percent
This pattern is expected to continue in IPL 2025, with brands leveraging influencers to fuel cricket-driven conversations. Praanesh Bhuvaneswar, Co-Founder and CEO of Qoruz, explained the shift:
"IPL is the biggest cultural moment in India, and every brand wants a piece of the action. But slapping a logo on an ad isn’t enough anymore. The brands that will truly win this season are the ones that seamlessly blend into fan conversations—through influencers, memes, and interactive content that gets people talking."
Official Sponsors vs Non-Sponsoring Brands
Qoruz categorises brands investing in IPL influencer marketing into two groups:
- Official IPL Sponsors – These include major advertisers who integrate influencer-driven promotions into their larger media mix, spanning television, digital, and on-ground activations.
- Non-Sponsoring Brands – Companies across sectors such as fintech, e-commerce, and lifestyle that, despite not holding official IPL sponsorships, leverage sports influencers, meme creators, and digital campaigns to ride the IPL wave.
- Some of the biggest brands driving influencer collaborations last season were JioCinema, Star Sports India, Dream 11, Puma, Swiggy, Zomato, Cricbuzz, and Paytm, with JioCinema alone generating 23.4 million engagements through influencer marketing.
A Game-Changer for Digital Advertising
Beyond influencer marketing, IPL 2025 is also expected to be a boon for social media advertising, with Integral Ad Science estimating advertising revenues between Rs 6,000 and Rs 7,000 crore for the tournament.
Glance, a smart-lock screen firm, reported that in IPL 2024:
- 120 million user engagements were recorded.
- Users spent 44 percent more time consuming cricket-related content.
- 314 billion glances and 433 million taps were generated on cricket updates.
- The impact of IPL extended beyond cricket, with users exploring news, entertainment, and gaming content, while quick commerce and music platforms witnessed a massive engagement boost.
Cricket fans drive a digital surge
App-based engagement is also expected to hit new highs during IPL 2025, following last year’s trends:
- Gaming apps saw 6 times higher click-through rates (CTRs).
- Home entertainment apps recorded a 5.6 times surge in engagement.
- Music streaming platforms experienced a 3.5 times higher CTR.
- In-app clicks increased by 9.4 percent.
- Video ad engagement spiked 21 times.
- Full-screen interstitial ads performed 13 times better than industry benchmarks.
- Additionally, IPL 2024 saw a 35 percent jump in Android app installs and a 28 percent rise in iOS installs, reflecting the tournament’s role in boosting digital consumption.