Star Sports 2 and Star Sports 2 HD are estimated to earn a collective amount of 3 crores in advertising revenue from the recently gone ICC Women’s World Cup. According to sources, out of those 3 crores, Rs 2 crores have been earned from the India vs England final on July 23.
Sources also revealed the rates of the ad, which was Rs 10,000 for a 30-second spot whereas India matches demanded RS 15,000 for the same time period. However, these are still very low from that in ICC Champions Trophy India vs Pakistan final, which was Rs 1.2 crore for 30 seconds.
Dinesh Vyas, Associate VP (Planning), OMD, said, “It was an opportunity for everyone because this is the first time women’s cricket has done so well. Star definitely wanted to make most out of the opportunity. Also, there was enough time for the finals. I think the interest picked up after the semi final when we won against Australia. That was the turning point.”
He also mentioned the involvement of big brands like Samsung, Vivo, Nissan, Maruti Nexa Ciaz, Hero, Datsun and Nissan. K Srinivas Rao, National Director also said that there were brands who were advertising for the first time in the cricket field. He said, “Couple of FMCG brands were advertising more or less for the first time on cricket, especially women’s cricket with specific communication (from a female point of view). In fact, I have never seen them on sports. This is purely because of the team’s performance. Conversations around the World Cup and the women’s cricket team also helped.”
Vyas further said, “As a media person, if I am advertising any product I might consider women’s cricket team, not just during World Cup but also during games with other countries. In addition, people have started recognising the Indian cricket captain and other team members. Next year, they will look forward to it. So, another opportunity has been created for media people. If the team continues to do well they won’t mind sponsoring them or their tournaments for sure.”
Vyas also plans to get bigger in the next World Cup and make more money out of it. Srinivas giving the example of Pro Kabbadi League said, “In the future, if BCCI and networks like Star put their might behind this sport with respect to packaging and promoting then I don’t see any reason why it can’t be a success.”
On social media too, the popularity of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 was at its peak during the final between India and England. Despite their defeat, the Indian women’s cricket team gained a lot of respect and support in the country.