The Indian Premier League (IPL) brand roster keeps getting bigger. While teams are locking new sponsors every day, this year’s edition is also witnessing a surge in brand interest when it comes to sponsors for the official broadcaster Disney Star and official streaming partner JioCinema. The season has taken off with the two locking in close to 30 sponsors. Industry insiders hint that negotiations are ongoing, with additional deals expected to be finalised soon.
Expectations suggest an even bigger sponsorship pool by mid-season, surpassing the previous year’s brand roll.
JioCinema sponsors
While Dream 11 is the co-presenting sponsor, JioCinema has also already locked in around 18 associate sponsors including Tata Motors, PayZapp by HDFC Bank, SBI, Cred, AMFI, Upstox, Charged by Thums Up, Britannia, Pepsi, Parle Products, Google Pixel, Haier, Jindal Steel, Vodafone, Dalmia Cements, Kamla Pasand and Rapido.
The list is a mix of new as well as repeat sponsors. Some of the brands that were present in the 16th edition of the league include Rapido, Haier and Kamla Pasand while the likes of Cred, AMFI, Upstox, Charged by Thums Up, Google Pixel among others are new entrants in the sponsor list of the digital media rights’ owner.
Disney Star deals
Disney Star, on the other hand, has also closed about 15 deals. Its sponsor list as of now includes Asian Paints, Vimal Pan Masala, Dettol, Real Fruit Juice (Dabur), Parle, Cadbury Dairy Milk (Mondelez), Charged by Thums Up, Amul, Havells, Groww, Joy Cosmetics, Rupay, HDFC PayZapp, UltraTech and Vanessa.
Cadbury Dairy Milk, Charged by Thums Up, Rupay, and Asian Paints are some of the broadcasters’ repeat sponsors.
Both TV and digital are making efforts to amplify reach for the season to offer maximum ROI (return on investment) for both advertisers and sponsors.
Star Sports, for instance, has partnered with Tata Play to introduce targeted advertising on linear TV, during live sports broadcasts, beginning this IPL season. For the first time, advertisers will have the opportunity to target their ads to the most premium cohorts during live IPL matches on key Star Sports channels. Leveraging the targeting capabilities facilitated by Tata Play, brands can now connect with affluent viewers in metro markets like never before. It has also onboarded content creator CarryMinati in a bid to transform the way sports broadcasting is done and perceived in the country.
JioCinema, on the other hand, alongside free streaming has introduced a Haryanvi feed, with multi-cam options, including the much-hyped Hero Cam. The streaming platform saw over 11.3 crore viewers log in on Day 1, a 51 percent increase compared to Day 1 of Tata IPL 2023.