Follow UsThe ICC Cricket World Cup encounter between India and Pakistan on Saturday didn’t meet expectations, with the home team securing an easy, walk-in-the-park seven-wicket victory in Ahmedabad. But for host broadcaster Star Sports, that hardly mattered. They achieved what they had set out to achieve.
With a peak concurrency audience of 3.5 crores on Disney+ Hotstar, the match broke all records in the history of cricket broadcasting - breaking the 3.2 crore viewership of the IPL final between Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans played in May 2023. This came on the back of Disney Star producing its first-ever vertical sports feed on its mobile application with a 9:16 aspect ratio.
Even on Television, things were pretty good. According to the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), the first 11 matches of the tournament, which included India-Australia and India-Afghanistan matches, were watched by 268 million viewers - which is 59 billion minutes of viewership, a growth of 22 percent, compared to the 2019 edition. These numbers are without the figures accumulated from the India-Pakistan game in Ahmedabad, making it even more impressive.
The India-Pakistan game was touted to drive the bargain for the entire tournament. Disney Star desperately needed brands to queue up in line for the World Cup, and queuing up the brands did as the likes of PhonePe, Mahindra & Mahindra, Dream11, Hindustan Unilever, Coca-Cola, Havells, IndusInd Bank, Pernod Ricard India, and Booking.com spent a wholesome amount with top slots costing over 150 Crores.
Initially, the ad rates for the India-only matches were around Rs 35 lakh per 10 seconds for TV, with the price increasing by 60% from there for the last-second inventory booking. While other package deals were expensive compared to other events like IPL or any bilateral series, brands still took that as a bargain ahead of the festive season.
This has come when the 28% GST blow to Real-Money Gaming Industry crippled many companies’ marketing budgets. Yet, the insatiable appetite of the Indian public to go gung-ho during the festive season meant skipping the WC slot would never be an option for FMCG and other consumer goods companies.
So, does Star have reasons to be optimistic about its future growth potential?
If you don’t know it already, this has been a tough year for Disney Star, who have lost a significant market share to Viacom18 and have lost two of the biggest properties - IPL Digital Rights and Indian home bilateral rights to the Mukesh Ambani-backed conglomerate. While the current financial situation has forced them to look at the option of selling their India assets to prospective buyers like Sun TV and Adani Conglomerates, they still want to make sure the financial gain from the ongoing World Cup saves their base in a big way.
This also squarely brings attention to the format. The future of ODI cricket has been debated with great vigor in the last few years, with many superstar players openly lashing the lack of relevance around it. While the 50-over World Cup still continues to be the pinnacle of the sport, how much interest it would generate by the time the 2027 event comes calling is left for interpretation.
Sure, Star has committed close to 3 Billion USD for the next four years, but will there be pressure from their end to convert the next edition to another T20 event? We have a Champions Trophy coming up in 2025. Will the fans lap into it?
There are so many questions. Irrespective of Star’s standing in the Indian market, these questions will define how long and sustainable Indian broadcasting investment will carry the sport forward.