The excitement around the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup has picked up further pace with the much-hyped and anticipated India vs Pakistan match scheduled for tomorrow (October 14).

This has also generated significant buzz and speculation around the ad inventory for the match, which is expected to garner record viewership across platforms.

Some agencies claimed that nearly 10% of ad inventory had been reserved for last-minute deals for both TV and digital, sources close to Disney Star said the inventory has been sold off for TV but they are still selling some on digital.

An industry insider, on the condition of anonymity, said, “The demand is super high for the India vs Pakistan match, and so are the expectations of all stakeholders. In such situations, broadcasters do keep around 10% of ad inventory free close to the match date and leverage from it by asking for a much higher price. Right now, the price is somewhere around Rs 50 lakh for a 10-second slot on TV.”

However, another source said that before being sold out, the broadcasters charged an extra premium of around Rs 10 lakh from advertisers for the 10% inventory, which was kept on hold for TV.

“The ad spot rates on mobile are around Rs 15-17 lakh and the CTV inventory has been sold out,” sources further said.

Initially, the ad rates for the India-only matches were set at around Rs 35 lakh per 10 seconds for TV, industry experts chimed in. For the India vs Pak game, the figure is higher as we are just one day away from the match.

Asked if brands were usually given the option to purchase ad slots on a single-match basis, an expert said that brands have to choose from several bundles on offer – India-only matches or a combination of India and non-India matches with a minimum number of games.

However, at this point, several brands are lining up to secure a 10-second ad slot as the match is expected to generate record eyeballs and media ROIs, the sources pointed out.