The Indian Premier League (IPL) was once a popular destination for edtech advertisers and big spenders like Byju’s, Whitehat Jr. and Unacademy. But these edtech brands have been noticeably absent from the IPL in the last two seasons.
According to TAM Sports data, both 2023 and the ongoing 2024 season of the league has seen no big spends from the edtech advertisers. Surprisingly just two years back, edtech advertised for more than 40 plus hours across all channels that telecast IPL 15, contributing 60 percent of overall advertising share during the league in 2022.
Based on average ad volume per match during different stages of IPL, edtech advertising also grew by 32 percent during eliminator matches and during finals by 54 percent compared to league matches.
Breaking it further down in IPL 2022, the top eight advertiser brands were Think & Learn (Biju’s), Vedantu Innovations and Great Lakes E-Learning Services (Great Learning). Their percentage contribution to the edtech pie as advertisers were 64 percent, 22 percent and 14 percent.
The days of lavish spending by edtech players in the IPL are gone.
“These companies were once major contributors to the league’s advertising revenue and even sponsored teams. However, their entire spending has vanished from the IPL, impacting not just the league itself but also the broader advertising ecosystem. Ed-tech companies used to launch special campaigns with celebrity endorsers specifically for the IPL, further boosting the ad market during the tournament,” said the marketing head of a digital media organisation, highlighting the significant shift.
One of the key reasons why these edtech companies stopped splurging on IPL was their increasing losses.
According to reports, the five edtech unicorns—Unacademy, PhysicsWallah, Vedantu, Eruditus, and upGrad showed spends of more than Rs 2,250 crore on advertising, marketing and promotions in their FY22 filings. Out of the five Eruditus led the charts with Rs1090 crore spent on advertising. The numbers also constantly saw a surge between 2016 and 2021. BYJU’s total expenditure for instance was at Rs 26,100 crore in the FY16-FY22 time period and out of this the highest spends went towards advertising costs. Their total ad expenditure stood at Rs 8,029 crore.
Experts called this a correction of sorts.
“The curious absence of EdTech from IPL advertising this year could signal a maturing market, with established players reaching a user base saturation where the IPL’s high-cost, broad reach isn’t as critical for acquisition. It might also indicate a shift towards more targeted marketing channels or strategic partnerships,” said Russhabh R Thakkar, Founder and CEO at ad tech firm Frodoh World.
“Moreover, regulatory scrutiny surrounding EdTech’s aggressive marketing tactics could further push them away from the IPL’s wide audience,” Thakkar added: “This AdEx gap presents a golden opportunity for sectors like travel capitalising on pent-up demand, D2C brands aiming for wider awareness, or traditional FMCG, Auto and BFSI companies seeking to refresh their image with a younger demographic.”