With just two more days to go for the Indian Premier League (IPL), official broadcaster Disney Star is believed to have closed ad sale deals worth Rs 2500 crore, and sources claim deals worth another Rs 500 crore are under discussion. Despite uncertain economic environment, many past sponsors, including start-ups such as Dream11 and legacy brands such as Airtel, Coke, Asian Paints, Pepsi, Tata and vivo have struck deals with the broadcaster.

Disney Star India, which has retained the TV rights for Rs 23,575 crore, has a daunting task of monetising the huge bets that it has made on IPL. If estimates provided by industry sources are to be believed, the ad revenue earned by Disney Star from IPL has almost doubled in four years, from Rs 1800 crore in 2018 to reach a high of Rs 3500 crore in 2022. 

Earlier this month, sources in the industry claimed that Disney Star has signed 11 sponsors and has more than 55 brands onboard. “This number should have shot up to 15 sponsors and at least 75 brands by now,” said another senior industry source.

While the broadcaster continues to be tight-lipped about the details, highly placed sources have confirmed the development to exchange4media.

It is also learnt that the brands that have signed the deals are largely from categories such as fantasy gaming, beverage, telecom, fintech, insurance, auto, online delivery, consumer durables, paints, FMCG and travel.

Meanwhile, to increase its reach, Disney Star has announced that it will telecast 12 IPL matches on its free-to-air channel Star Utsav Movies for the first time since the network bought TV rights for the tournament. The move is expected to give a big boost to Disney Star's viewership in the rural market.

“With Jio giving them competition this year, the broadcaster is playing smart and coming up with newer ways to catch more brands. One should expect the number to cross 75 as they near the tournament," said another industry veteran.