King Khan rules IPL 18 even as celebrity endorsed ads see 13% drop

Shah Rukh Khan

Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan dominated ads that featured during this year's Indian Premier League (IPL).

With an 8 percent share in total TV commercials aired during IPL 2025, Shah Rukh Khan became the top endorser with the highest share of ad volumes and continued his reign from 2024, according to data from TAM Sports, a division of TAM Media Research.

Other celebrities who featured the most in TV ads during this year's IPL include Ananya Panday at 7 percent ad volume share followed by Laksh Lalwani at 6 percent, and M S Dhoni and Ajay Devgan at 5 percent.

Comparison with IPL 17

While SRK was the most featured celebrity in ads during IPL 2024, the share was higher at 13 percent versus 2025. Ajay Devgn came in second with 9 percent share followed by Tiger Shroff and Amyra Dastur at 5 percent and M S Dhoni at 3 percent.

In the 18th edition of the IPL, celebrity endorsed ads saw a 13 percent decline in ad volumes.

The ratio of celebrity-endorsed to non-celebrity-endorsed ads during IPL 18 was 53:47, compared to 59:41 in IPL 17.

Film actors continued to dominate brand endorsements, contributing 50 percent of total ad volumes, while sports personalities maintained their presence with a 32 percent share.

When compared to IPL 17, the number of overall and sports celebrities who featured in ads decreased during IPL 18. The overall number of celebrities in IPL 18 was over 60 while in IPL 17 it was over 75. The number of sports celebrities who featured in ads in IPL 18 was over 15 versus over 35 sports celebrities in IPL 17.

The top five categories and advertisers respectively accounted for 67 percent and 53 percent of ad volume share of celebrity endorsed ads in IPL 18. Two of the top five celebrity endorsed categories belonged to the F&B sector.

Online gaming, pan masala, and biscuits, among others, were the top categories while Sporta Technologies which operates Dream11, Parle Biscuits, and Vishnu Packaging were top advertisers.

A total of over 25 categories and over 40 advertisers advertised during IPL 18.