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The broadcaster recently bagged the rights for Indian Premier League, the BCCI-promoted Twenty20 tournament.

Sony Entertainment Television, which recently bagged the telecast rights of the Indian Premier League (IPL), hopes to earn over Rs 300 crore as advertising revenue in the first season of the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India)-promoted Twenty20 tournament.

Last month, the television broadcaster, along with sports marketing and management agency World Sports Group (WSG), won the broadcast rights for IPL for $1.03 billion (around Rs 4,120 crore) which includes $108 million (nearly Rs 432 crore) for compulsory promotional spends for 10 years.

While WSG will explore the rights internationally, Sony will cater to the Indian subcontinent.

Sony plans to rope in two presenting and six associate sponsors. While the two presenting sponsors will get around 250 seconds each per match, the associate sponsors will get visibility in the range of 200 to 150 seconds. This apart, the presenting sponsors and associate sponsors will get mileage through interactivity initiatives.

Rohit Gupta, president (network sales, licensing & telephony), Sony Entertainment Television India, said: “We will accommodate a maximum of 12 brands through presenting and associate sponsors and spot buyers given the fact that it is a three-hour match with 2,000 seconds to sell. Our estimate is that between presenting and associate sponsors, almost 1,500 to 1,600 seconds will be sold out and the remaining will be sold as spot buys.”

According to industry experts, the 10-second slots will sell for Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 3 lakh, whereas bulk buyers (such as the presenting and associate sponsors) will shell out Rs 2.25 lakh to Rs 2.4 lakh for a 10-second slot.

The advantage advertisers have in the Twenty20 format is exclusivity.

Future Group, Nokia, Pepsi, Coke, Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group and Reliance Industries Ltd, among others, are said to be in talks with Sony for presenting sponsorship, said sources. Airtel, Maruti Udyog, LG Electronics and Hyundai are eyeing the associate sponsorship.

Gupta refused to divulge the names of advertisers which have approached Sony, but added that the channel would seal deals by the end of this month.

Source: Business Standard

SET Max - IPL Official Broadcasting Partner

Sports broadcaster Sony Max and sports rights company World Sport Group have jointly paid US$1.026bn for the rights to the Indian Premeir League (IPL) cricket championship.

The deal gives the partnership shared rights to the series for 10 years, and brings with it a change of direction for Sony Max parent Sony Entertainment Television (SET), which previously backed the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup.

The change of heart follows the Indian cricket team’s early exit from last year’s ICC World Cup, which resulted in a significant financial loss for SET. Reports put SET’s accumulated debts as high as US$100m.

And as a result of advertiser uncertainly over the prowess of the Indian cricket squad, coupled with the rising cost of ICC rights, SET has now turned to the IPL for its future cricket coverage.

The new arrangement gives World Sport Group the international media rights for internet, mobile and radio, with Sony Max bagging the South Asian TV rights to the competition, which begins on April 18.

Kunal Dasgupta, CEO of SET India, said: “We officially broadcast the ICC events for seven years, from 2000 to 2007. We are not interested in the next ICC events because it is becoming a little expensive. We have decided to go for the shorter version of 20:20 matches.”

Sony Entertainment Television - IPL Official Broadcasting Partner

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