IPL 2020: Despite COVID-19 pressure, Disney+Hotstar gets more sponsors than last year

Disney+Hotstar has surpassed the number of sponsors it has onboarded for the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) as compared to last year.

This year, the digital property has got as many as 13 sponsors, up from 10 sponsors that Disney+Hotstar had brought for the 12th season of IPL.

The platform has brought Dream11 as the co-presenting sponsor and Boost as the co-powered sponsor. Along with this, there are as many as 11 sponsors that have come on board for IPL 2020.

Key sponsors include Acko, Maruti Suzuki, KhataBook, Flipkart, Swiggy, Ace23, HDFC Bank, Great Learning, MX Player, Kingfisher Calendar and Association of Mutual Funds in India.

“We have created avenues for interactive advertising innovations which will enable brands to engage with their audience more effectively. This has resulted in interest and investment from prestigious brands across categories as varied as auto to e-commerce to banking,” said Nitin Bawankule, President, Ad Sales, Star & Disney India.

If we look at the advertising rates on Disney+Hotstar, the cost per mille (CPM) for a 30-second mid-roll ad was around Rs 360 for IPL 2019.

Compare this with the CPM for video ads on Youtube; it is in the range of Rs 200 to Rs 250, according to industry estimates.

CPM refers to the cost an advertiser pays for 1,000 ad impressions. Ad impressions are counted every time an ad is displayed.

When it comes to sponsorship, last year Disney+Hotstar saw around 60 percent to 70 percent markup in sponsorship revenue as co-presenting sponsorship price increased to Rs 50 crore from Rs 30 crore in 2018.

This year, Disney+ Hotstar has also added new features to the interactive Watch’N Play social feed. Fans will be able to set the mood during a match using an interactive emoji stream.

In addition, cricket enthusiasts will be able to join in the action by expressing themselves using ‘Hotshots’ selfies or a new video feature ‘Duets’ that lets fans create customised videos showcasing their rendition of famous shots and reactions of their favourite Dream11 IPL Heroes.

All live IPL matches will be available to subscribers of Disney+ Hotstar VIP at Rs 399 for 12 months and Disney+ Hotstar Premium available at Rs 1,499 for 12 months.