JioStar Leads as Brands Boost Spending on Cricket Ads

HIGHLIGHTS:

• JioStar dominates cricket broadcasting with merged platforms JioCinema and Disney+Hotstar, rebranding Sports18 to Star Sports.
• Cricket ad spend in India is projected to reach ₹5,000 crore from February to May 2025, driven by major events like IPL and Champions Trophy.
• IPL ad rates have increased by 25-30%, with 10-second slots now priced at ₹8.5 lakh, up from ₹6.5 lakh last year.
• JioHotstar plans to monetize IPL via a paywall, offering users a chance to sample content before subscription begins at ₹149 per quarter.
• Experts predict a potential correction in ad rates within 2-3 years as IPL becomes less affordable and market dynamics shift.

From February to May 2025, India’s cricket season heats up with the WPL, ICC Men’s Champions Trophy, and IPL, with advertisers spending ₹5,000 crore. JioStar, formed from Reliance and Disney Star’s merger, holds the telecast rights and has merged JioCinema and Disney+Hotstar into JioHotstar for sports streaming. It’s also rebranding Sports18 to Star Sports. WPL sponsors include SBI, Kajaria, TATA Capital, AMFI, Himalaya, TATA Motors, and Amul, while Champions Trophy sponsors include Dream11, Pernod Ricard, Beam Suntory, Kohler, Vodafone Idea, ICICI Bank, and others.

Advertisers and sponsors will head for IPL as well even though ad prices have risen by almost 25-30% compared to last year. Kumar Awanish, growth chief at advertising agency Cheil India, added that a 10-second advertisement slot on IPL last year priced at Rs 6.5 lakh is now available for Rs 8.5 lakh. "It was anticipated since cricket media rights for both television and digital have gone to the same company," Awanish said.

A JioStar official said the argument was wrong and any rate hike is inflation-adjusted. IPL adds over 600 million viewers to the platform on TV and digital, "so what we offer is great value," he added. "Also, two broadcasters that merged, paid billions of dollars for IPL rights and we are answerable to our shareholders and must recover some of the investment made in sports," the executive said.

EssenceMediacom, South Asia, CEO Navin Khemka conceded cricket's unmatched reach unifies viewership across markets and states where audiences watch content in various languages. "Sports has no language, so from a content point of view, it’s a great unifier," he said.

This year, digital streaming ad rates on connected TV (CTV) are likely to be higher than on broadcast TV. "CTV homes have broadband at home and are early adopters of technology. Obviously, they are considered premium households, and hence more expensive," Khemka said.

Further, “Even our GroupM report forecasts only 7-8% growth in media spends this year. Given all this, if you want brands to associate with cricket, you have to make it work for advertisers, which means premium pricing is no longer possible,” Khemka said.

In addition to advertising revenue, JioHotstar is focusing on subscription income. While IPL was free for mobile users on JioCinema for the past two years, JioHotstar is now placing IPL behind a paywall after merging JioCinema and Disney+Hotstar, aiming to capitalize on its massive reach.

A JioStar spokesperson said a viewer will not have to buy a subscription immediately as the app allows you to sample the content before you hit a paywall.

“Users can experience and engage with premium entertainment on JioHotstar, including marquee live sports such as IPL and Champions Trophy, without the immediate need of a subscription”, the person said. But for “uninterrupted and enhanced viewing experience”, mobile users will need to subscribe to its subscription plans starting at ₹149 per quarter.

Free versus paid viewing is likely to be the real test of both IPL and JioHotstar. “It remains to be seen if the paywall, even if subsidized, will impact last year’s viewership numbers,” a sports marketing expert said on condition of anonymity.

On JioStar’s monopoly over cricket, he said that market dynamics will decide its future. “Right now, it is a broadcaster’s market. But in the next 2-3 years, expect a correction in ad rates which is inevitable when the market gets overheated and IPL becomes unaffordable,” he said.