.jpg)
The advertising landscape for women’s cricket in India is rapidly diversifying, mirroring the sport’s growing prominence and popularity. This shift is particularly evident as we approach the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024, according to Dhruv Dhawan, Head of Ad Sales at Disney+ Hotstar.
Ahead of two major sporting events next month, ICC Women’s T20 World Cup and Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), Dhawan shared insights with exchange4media.
Dhawan dived deep into how there is a surge in viewership for female cricketing events and also shared the market sentiment around the Women’s T20 WC, which will begin on October 4.
Growing Popularity of Women’s Cricket
According to Dhawan, India is recording a good amount of traction on the women's cricket stage.
“There's a lot of buzz around that (Women’s T20 WC) and it is helping us capitalize in terms of the audience and consumer interest. It is right in the middle of the festive season. During this period, advertisers are highly active. According to a sentiment report released this year, our premium audiences on Disney+ Hotstar are expected to spend at least 2.5 times more than they did previously,” he said.
Talking about the brands coming forward to advertise during the tournament, Dhawan said that the demand would be driven by CPG, auto and gaming.
“It depends on the brand; what's the story they want to tell at that time. So, there could be a deep association they're already having with women's cricket. Like there was a beauty brand that came onboard with us, and they actually were associated with one of the teams.
“I think in the women's sports, we will see interest in areas like beauty, auto and two-wheelers,” he said.
Spike in viewership
Dhawan said that in terms of audience engagement, Disney+ Hotstar has seen almost a three-fold increase in viewership for women’s cricket this year compared to a year and a half ago.
“This growth is reflective of the broader trends in digital media consumption. Additionally, Connected TV is playing a significant role in this surge. Sports, being a multi-person, living room experience, is greatly enhanced by Connected TV.
“With a Connected TV at home, viewers find it much easier to enjoy sports events together, further driving the increase in viewership,” he said, adding that this will only help further drive growth for Women's World Cup.
Shifts in viewership and advertising
According to Dhawan, there has been a significant shift in advertising pattern as FMCG players are increasingly partnering with Disney+ Hotstar for major cricket tournaments, a trend that was not as prevalent before.
He credited this to the growing female viewership.
“We have successfully addressed several factors contributing to this change, including measurement attribution and, in some cases, pricing strategies that encourage greater investment.
“Additionally, one key factor driving this shift is the growing female viewership... Notably, women's cricket attracts 20% more female viewers compared to men's cricket on Disney+ Hotstar, which has influenced advertisers' decisions to invest more in our platform,” he said.
On being asked if the tournament will be streamed for free, Dhawan responded in negative.
“No, we are behind the paywall. One notable trend we've observed is that a significant portion of viewership for these tournaments is driven by Connected TV (CTV). Live sports on CTV or TV generally offer the best viewing experience, which contributes to this trend,” he said.
Insights on Pro Kabaddi League (PKL)
Another property the platform is kicked about is PKL, which is scheduled to begin on October 18.
Dhawan said, “In terms of audience growth, we have seen a significant increase, with viewership doubling to tripling over the last two seasons. Specifically, in the case of PKL, viewership has grown threefold. Much of this growth comes from beyond the metros, where the passion for the game runs deep.
“Regarding advertising, we have a dedicated mid-market and SMB team actively engaging with local advertisers. These teams focus on regional brands, leveraging the strong local connections and associations with specific cities and states to create deeper, more meaningful partnerships,” he said.
Festive season trends
The festive period started in August with Raksha Bandhan, and continues till December. There is Ganesh Chaturthi, Navratri/Durga Puja culminating into Dussehra, followed by Diwali and ending with Christmas & New year's eve.
This four-month period, September-December, sees a very high advertiser interest for categories such as FMCG, CG, Auto, Fashion & Apparel, F&B to name a few, said Dhawan.
On an average 40-45% of the annual AdEx is spent during these festive months in India, he said.
As per Dhawan, women and Gen Z shoppers are going to increase their budgets a lot more, which helps the platform to market the tournaments, especially Women's World T20 World Cup, right.
“Our festive survey really throws out these four categories that people will spend on. Clothing, food, mobile phones and beauty products have clearly come out. So, these are the expected categories where brands will continue to see growth from a consumer standpoint, and brands will ride that wave in terms of partnering with us on some of these platforms to drive their advertising and business growth,” he said.
Talking of ad spends during the festive season, Dhawan said he was certain that it is going up by 20-25%.
“It's about 20-25%. We know it is going to go up, especially for this season. All our conversations, our briefs are all on point. We are seeing growth already on our platform,” he said.
Ad formats offered by Disney+ Hotstar
Disney + Hotstar, the official digital broadcaster for the ICC Women's T20 WC 2024, is offering various ad formats to lure brands, like 3D Breakout Ads on mobile, Takeover Ads for mobile, Billboards on CTV, Lead-gen Ads, Click to Whatsapp and many more engaging formats.
As per the broadcaster, 3D Breakout Ad is a dynamic ad format that appears on the Disney+ Hotstar mobile homepage featuring creative elements that "break out" of the standard billboard space creating a 3D effect for enhanced visual impact, offering brands a bold way to capture attention on mobile.
Takeover Ads for mobile are Video ads with a call-to-action (CTA) and clickable cards, presented in a catalogue format, making interactions more immersive.
Billboards on CTV - Billboards that squeeze down to cover the entire real estate on CTV. Disney+ Hotstar is the only platform that offers CTV billboards that cover the entire real estate on CTV.
Lead-gen Ads enable brands to gather first-party data and enable lead generation through midrolls, pre-rolls, billboards, branded cards, and brand tabs.
Click to WhatsApp - Video Ad with CTA button, enabling advertiser to interact with users (upon giving consent) through WhatsApp messages.
The T20 WC will be available in Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada in India + Knock out games and a few select non-India matches. Only English language for the rest of the matches.
There were nine advertiser categories from previous Women’s Cricket tournaments, across BFSI, IT, FMCG, Social Platform, Construction, FinTech platform, Fashion, Automobile and Gaming.
Pro Kabaddi League will be available in Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada.
.jpg)
