Domestic soccer may not have many takers among advertisers in the country, but the FIFA World Cup tournament, which kicks off in South Africa on Friday, is a sellout for television commercials.
ESPN Star Sports, which will broadcast the tournament, claims it has sold all its ad inventory and managed to garner nearly three times more revenues compared to the previous fixture held in 2006.
According to industry estimates the advertising revenues for the 64-match tournament will touch Rs 100 crore for the broadcaster.
Compared to the Rs 700 crore that MSM generated from the IPL3 cricket tournament, this may be peanuts, but it seems to be an indication that advertisers are looking beyond cricket.
“We are subscribed over 2.5 times from the 2006 World Cup. The average TRP (television rating point) then was 2.4 and we are now expecting a 2.75 average this time,” said R.C. Venkateish, Managing Director, ESPN Star Sports.
A programme’s TRP, used to measure viewership, denotes the share of total viewers switched on at a given time slot watching that programme.
{{/usCountry}}A programme’s TRP, used to measure viewership, denotes the share of total viewers switched on at a given time slot watching that programme.
{{/usCountry}}Advertisers who have signed on for the FIFA World Cup acknowledge that they need to look beyond cricket.
“ESPN has been asking for approximately Rs 15 to 16crore for co-presenting and Rs12 to 13 crore for associate sponsor. They would get approximately Rs 80 to 100 crore on the property,” said Nandini Dias, Chief Operating Officer, Lodestar Media.
A spot for co-sponsor is known to have been sold at Rs 1.70 lakh per 10 seconds.