According to industry sources, Disney Star is projected to earn ad revenue anywhere between Rs 3500 crore and Rs 3800 crore on TV and upwards of Rs 1000 crore on digital While there is still over three weeks to go for the Tata Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, media conglomerate Disney Star has already sold a large chunk of the ad inventory on both Star Sports and Disney+ Hotstar. The company has roped in 15 broadcast and 13 digital sponsors for the tournament which will be held from March 26 to May 29. The return of IPL to India after a two-year gap and the addition of two new teams - Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants - have worked well for the company. IPL viewership in these two states is expected to take a leap due to the presence of Ahmedabad and Lucknow teams. The stage for the big bang IPL season was set by the successful mega auction which witnessed record viewership numbers on both TV and digital.   Star Sports has onboarded 15 sponsors, including Dream11, Tata Corporate, Byju’s, CRED, Kamla Pasand, Asian Paints, PhonePe, Swiggy Instamart, White Hat Jr, Meesho, Spotify, Pepsi, and Mondelez. Disney+ Hotstar has signed up Dream11 as the co-presenting sponsor followed by Tata and CRED as the ‘co-powered by’ sponsors besides Swiggy, Pristyn Care, Zepto, Ather Energy, Niyo, Parle Agro, Spotify, Livspace, L'Oréal, and Spinny have been signed-on as associate sponsors.   “Tata IPL is considered one of the biggest advertising opportunities on a brand’s marketing calendar. The tournament is making a comeback in the March-May window and is returning to Indian shores, thus generating massive excitement. Advertisers across categories have shown keen interest, and we look forward to an impactful tournament,” said Disney Star Head – Ad Sales Nitin Bawankule. It is learnt that more than 100 brands have inked advertising deals with Disney Star to leverage the massive audience reach of IPL. Both Star Sports and Disney+ Hotstar have seen heightened interest from advertisers across size and scale with categories ranging from FMCG, BFSI, automobile, consumer durables, gaming, e-commerce, telecom, and handsets. Besides the regular advertising categories on IPL, Disney Star has also seen interest from emerging tech categories like fin-tech, payments, hyper-local delivery services, and streaming platforms. According to industry sources, Disney Star is projected to earn ad revenue anywhere between Rs 3500 crore and Rs 3800 crore on TV and upwards of Rs 1000 crore on digital. In 2021, the company is believed to have earned an estimated Rs 3200-3300 crore from TV and Rs 650-700 crore from digital. The ad revenue growth is mainly on account of additional ad inventory due to a 24 per cent increase in the number of games besides the organic ad rate growth. The industry sources have also said that Star Sports has sold 85% of the ad inventory for the IPL. "The TV ad revenue will depend on the amount of inventory that Star Sports can sell. But if all goes well, they will end up with an ad revenue of Rs 3800 crore. Considering the increase in matches, it is difficult to fill the entire inventory. To overcome this challenge, Star Sports has created match packages with lower outlays to allow more brands to participate in the tournament. It's a clever strategy considering the overall outlays required for 74 matches is huge," an informed source said, on the condition of anonymity. Another source said that the broadcaster will easily clock ad revenue of Rs 3500 crore since there is a lot of demand for IPL. "Each IPL game has 3200 seconds of ad inventory. Star Sports can earn Rs 3500 crore at an average rate of Rs 14.5 lakh per 10 seconds for 74 games. This includes Rs 3400 crore ad revenue from live matches and Rs 100 crore from non-match inventory. On digital, Disney+ Hotstar might end up with an ad revenue of Rs 800 crore after factoring in the 24 per cent increase in matches and 10-15 per cent organic growth in rates," the source said. According to a digital media executive, Disney+ Hotstar has sold out its ad inventory for the tournament. "The platform had sold 2/3rd of the inventory in the last week of February. It is also eyeing a 20% rate hike from this week. There is tremendous demand for IPL on Disney+ Hotstar," he stated. Industry sources say that Star Sports' asking rate for co-presenting sponsorship is Rs 13.5 lakh to Rs 14 lakh per 10-second spot based on the inventory consumption in a match. The broadcaster has sought Rs 14.5 lakh/10-second spot from associate sponsors and Rs 16.55 lakh per 10-second spot from spot buyers. The sources also say that the overall outlay for co-presenting sponsors is Rs 140-210 crore at 120 to 180 seconds of inventory consumption per match. For the associate sponsor, the outlay could be anywhere between Rs 93.8 crore and Rs 117 crore with 80 to 100 seconds inventory per match. The broadcaster has created a spot buy package that will allow advertisers to advertise in 26 matches excluding key matches for a total outlay of Rs 26 crore. For its Cricket Live property, Star Sports is offering joint co-presenting and associate sponsorships for IPL 2022 and ICC Women's World Cup. The total outlay for co-presenting sponsorship is Rs 19 crore and Rs 14 crore for associate sponsorship. On Disney+ Hotstar, the total outlay for co-presenting sponsors is Rs 157 crore at an estimated reach of 130-150 million. The powered-by sponsor has to commit an outlay of Rs 60 crore with an estimated reach of 110-130 million. The platform has sought a Rs 30 crore outlay from associate sponsors at an estimated reach of 80-100 million. For mid-rolls on Live + PPL, the platform is charging Rs 210 CPM per 10 seconds. The ad rate for Midroll during highlights is Rs 175 CPM per 10 seconds. For Living Room (Live + PPL), the rate is Rs 400 CPM per 10 seconds. The 5-10 second pre-rolls advertising is priced at Rs 235 CPM. The platform's asking rate for a Branded card on Social Feed is Rs 85 CPM. The streaming platform is offering cohort-based targeting based on geography, NCCS, and devices. It has also come up with special packages like advertising during the matches of specific teams at a smaller outlay of Rs 3 crore.