Influencers score big this IPL season as brand spends touch Rs 1,000 crore

Aaryapriya Bhuyan, an influencer who recently bagged a Swiggy Instamart ad.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) never has a dull moment, not even during its commercial breaks when you can catch Hrithik Roshan shaking a leg in an advertisement for a fintech or Shah Rukh Khan's romantic dialogues while promoting a face wash. But the stars have hot competition, with lesser-known names giving them a run for their money.

The age of the influencer is well upon us, aided by the increasing brand collaborations, higher share of influencer marketing in IPL ad spends and more social media posts by digital content creators.

With spends touching Rs 1,000 crore, influencer marketing this year has accounted for 15-25 percent of overall IPL brand marketing revenue, up from 10-12 percent share last year, agencies estimate. This spending has increased 25-35 percent year-on-year from IPL 2024, noted Ritesh Ujjwal, co-founder, Kofluence.

Brands are going all in this season, crossing Rs 800-1,000 crore in influencer marketing spends, said Bala Kumaran, founder and director, BrandStory. He cites three factors for this. One is the rise of regional content creators who have become powerful engines of engagement as a local creator cheering for their home team outperforms celebrity endorsements. Two, brands are focusing on performance-based deals now, shifting from vanity metrics to the cost-per-sale scale. And three, fans see influencers as more relatable and trustworthy than commentators or scripted commercials, he said.

"Last year proved something big when influencers created real-time FOMO (fear of missing out) that traditional ads can’t. A meme from a nano-influencer during a Super Over can now drive more traction than a high-budget commercial. It’s the kind of attention arbitrage marketers are doubling down on," said Bala Kumaran, Founder & Director- BrandStory.

Aaryapriya Bhuyan, a Chennai Super Kings (CSK) fan, went viral after her emotional reaction during the CSK versus Rajasthan Royals match was caught on camera, gaining over 300,000 followers in just a few days. Brands like Swiggy and Yes Madam were quick to collaborate with her, turning a viral fan moment into high-impact engagement, pointed out Rachit Sharma, head of brand partnerships at Qoruz.

Coca-Cola is another example of sharp execution, he said. "They’ve been actively working with influencers to post reels and go live during halftime, tapping into fan conversations and capitalising on viral match moments."

Brand payouts to influencers for campaigns start from as low as Rs 5,000 and go up to lakhs.

Nano influencers can easily make between Rs 5,000 and Rs 25,000 per post or campaign while micro creators pull in anything from Rs 25,000 to Rs 1 lakh, and the big names earn Rs 5 lakh and up for each campaign,  said Sahil Chopra, founder and CEO, iCubesWire.

Macro influencers are those with 500,000-1 million followers; creators with 10,000-50,000 followers are categorised as micro influencers, and nano-influencers are those with 1,000-10,000 followers. Those with over a 1 million followers fall in the mega influencer category.

Micro-influencers are the top choice for many brands, getting nearly 50 percent of total spending, noted Kumaran. According to him, mega influencers' payouts are touching Rs 50 lakh for a campaign this IPL.

As of April 15, Qoruz has recorded over 170,000 IPL-related posts, on track to surpass last year's 315,000 posts and 3.2 billion engagements.

With over a month left for the IPL finals, influencers will keep the buzz around the league alive with their upcoming content.

Digital content creator Aditya Shetty is collaborating with four brands. "I’m creating humorous and team-supportive content that resonates with both fans and brands alike," he said.

Arsh Goyal, who has over 467,000 followers on Instagram, said IPL teams are picking up regional influencers for all matches. He is also in talks for an upcoming campaign.

Digital content creator Arjun Pandey whose Instagram feed has loads of IPL and cricket content is collaborating with a handful of brands. "As the engagement and reach of my content continue to rise, more brands are showing interest in partnering with me. I had the opportunity to work with Mumbai Indians. Being invited as a special guest on their MI Live event was a memorable experience for me," he said.

A month ago, an Instagram reel by Pandey based on the real story of Rohit Sharma recorded over 70 million views on the platform.

Who is paying? This season, there’s a strong bet on creator-led commerce especially across high-engagement categories like fantasy gaming, quick commerce, food delivery, OTT or over the top platforms and consumer technology, said Ujjwal. "Non-sponsoring brands from fintech to lifestyle are tapping into IPL's organic social buzz via influencers skipping the hefty sponsorship price tag," Ujjwal added. 

Compared to last year, we’re seeing an increase in paid collaborations, especially from non-sponsoring brands that want to join the IPL buzz without official tie-ins, Sharma pointed out.

"Smaller non-sponsoring brands are investing between Rs 20 lakh and Rs 50 lakh on focused influencer-led campaigns, while larger sponsors are spending anywhere from Rs 1 crore to Rs 10 crore or more, depending on their overall strategy," Sharma said.

Apoorv Sood aka @Trendulkar, who has 1.2 million followers on X, has collaborated with 10 brands for this IPL season. He said only one out of the 10 brands is directly affiliated with cricket or the IPL and the remaining partnerships are with general consumer brands.

"This reflects a broader trend where brands are leveraging the high engagement levels during IPL season, regardless of their association with the sport. There’s a noticeable shift in category diversity, indicating a growing interest from non-cricket brands in tapping into IPL-driven online attention," Sood said.

Gaming and entertainment brands lead the pack, contributing the largest share of spends, followed by consumer goods and beverages, Kumaran said. "But the rising star this year is fintech, where short-form content creators are explaining cashback offers or payment app features in fun, match-themed content that actually clicks with viewers."

While D2C (direct to consumer) and FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) brands tend to take a full-funnel approach with higher spends on influencers, there has been new interest from health tech, fintech, lifestyle and grooming brands, said Danish Malik, founder and CEO, Boomlet.

"We’re seeing spends ranging anywhere from Rs 15 lakh to over Rs 1.5 crore for IPL-led influencer campaigns per brand. We estimate that 20–30 percent of total IPL marketing budgets are being allocated to influencer marketing by digital-first brands. For some challenger brands or D2C players, that number can go up to 35–45 percent, especially if they’re prioritising digital over TV," Malik said.

Digital-first and D2C brands are taking a smarter, leaner route, spending Rs 2 crore to Rs 10 crore while collaborating with a broad pool of nano and micro influencers across regions, Kumaran said.

"This year, the shift is toward unscripted, real-time content like a micro-influencer live-reacting to a boundary moment while sipping a branded beverage," he added.

What’s gaining momentum are match-day activations like live reactions, memes, watch parties, and polls and quizzes that feels raw, immediate and genuinely fun, said Ujjwal. "We’re seeing roughly 1.5 to 2 times more engagement on these 'in-the-moment posts' compared to pre-planned content," he pointed out.

This year’s focus has been more towards moment-led content with reels, memes, real-time reactions and contextual storytelling, Malik said. "Deliverables are way beyond static posts. Think live content, AR (augmented reality) filters, brand shoutouts using cricket lingo and even influencer-led watch parties—the format is snappy, mobile-first and designed for mass engagement."