The 10th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2017) is likely to rake in more revenues in advertisements, according to Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) that holds television broadcast rights for the cricket carnival that starts from April 5. It has estimated ad income to rise to Rs 1,300 crore from Rs 1,200 crore earned last year (IPL 2016).
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For the event, the channel has roped in nine sponsors, including Ceat Tyres, Yamaha Motors and Vimal Paan Masala, while Parle Agro's Frooti, Yes Bank and Polycab could also come on board.
"We are looking at a 10–12% revenue growth. We should touch Rs 1,300 crore. IPL has become a very big property," the Television Post quoted SPNI president Rohit Gupta, as saying.
The title sponsor of IPL 2017 is Chinese smartphone maker Vivo.
There are eight teams for this year's edition of IPL comprising Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rising Pune Supergiants, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi Daredevils, Kings XI Punjab, Gujarat Lions and Mumbai Indians.
This will be the first edition of IPL after demonetisation that hit the ad industry in a big way in calendar year (CY) 2016, especially in the last two months. As against a projection of Rs 51,365 crore, the industry ended up with Rs 49,480 crore.
The adex (advertisement expenditure) projection for CY 2017 is Rs 56,152 crore, marking a growth of 13.5 percent over CY2016 actual business, according to the Pitch Madison Advertising Report 2017.
Apart from IPL 2017, advertisements by political parties contesting elections in the five states is also expected to contribute to an increase in ad business.
The biggest story of the IPL auction, which took place in Bengaluru on Monday, February 20, was that star Indian bowler Ishant Sharma remained unsold. Having a base price of Rs 2 crore, it was initially thought that the lanky bowler, who got married last year, would be the reason for a bidding war among the IPL franchisees.
The 28-year-old's name was put forward twice by IPL auctioneer Richard Madley, but rejected.
