Yes, you read it right, the league match of 2019 Cricket World Cup between India and Pakistan which will be played on 16 June at Old Trafford will be a ₹100 crore match. This is the most awaited match of the tournament and the Star Sports, the official broadcaster of the tournament is eyeing to make the maximum of it.
With around 5,500 seconds of total inventory in the India-Pakistan match, Star is expected to generate as much as ₹100 crore from this match alone, according to reports in LiveMint.
The channel had sold most of the inventory for the match but charging more than 50% premium for booking last-minute ad spots. Earlier Star was charging ₹16-18 lakh per 10 seconds and now they are charging ₹25 lakh for a 10-second slot.
Vinita Pachisia, senior vice-president at Carat India, a Dentsu Aegis Network-owned media agency said,
“The inventory on World Cup was being sold as packages, which included all matches (India and non-India) customized as per brand requirements/outlay available. There may not be a whole lot of inventory available to be sold on India-Pakistan matches and whatever little unsold inventory that is left may go at 40- 50% hike on the current rates.”
Sunday clash between India-Pakistan will attract the highest viewership of the tournament and also India has the winning spree.
The potential of the advertisement depends on the performance of the Indian team. Also, there are concerns about the ROI (Return of investment) being higher than any other India match.
Star has also signed a number of top brand for the tournament including PhonePe, OnePlus, Havells, Amazon, Dream11, MRF Tyres, Coca-Cola, Uber and Mondelez.