Brands, franchises belt up for the IPL juggernaut

The 2-day player auction for the 2018 season kicks off January 27 with 8 teams, 1000-plus players and a purse worth ~800 million

With an increased purse size and a pool of 1000-plus players to choose from, the eight franchise owners are not going to be just bidding for the best players on the field over two days starting Saturday, January 27. They are also going to keep a keen eye out for maximising the potential brand valuation of their teams, bidding to ensure that sponsors line up for a piece of the action well before the first ball of the first match is bowled in April this year. And for Star India (now Disney), the event provides a pinhole view into the potential advertiser and viewer engagement for the Indian Premier League, a Rs 163.5 billion property for the broadcaster.

The teams expect a significant jump in the amounts they can garner as sponsorship fees, given the gusto with which it is being promoted and also on the basis of the massive viewership numbers IPL amassed the previous season. In 2017, the total reach of the tournament according to BARC India was 410 million on television and according to Star India, 130 million on Hotstar. For 2018 Star has a six month plan for telecast of and around the IPL.

Indranil Das-blah, partner and COO at KWAN says, “With the popularity of the IPL, the franchises will have no problem attracting brands. One can safely say the year on year appreciation in sponsorship fees will be between 15 and 20 per cent.”

The auctions this year have already created quite a buzz, what with two old and popular franchises returning to the fold, having served out their twoyear banishment and Star India raising the noise around the property manifold. Both Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) have seen their brand values take a hit because of the ban and would be hoping to make a mark over the next two days.

According to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the list sent out to the franchises includes 281 capped players and 838 uncapped players, including 778 Indian players and three players from Associate Nations (countries that do not qualify for full membership with the International Cricket Council).

Of the 1,119 players in the auction pool, 282 are overseas players. These include 58 Australian players, 57 South African players and 39 each from West Indies and Sri Lanka. From the Associate Nations, two players from Scotland and one player from the United States have registered for the auction this year.

The bigger purse at the disposal of the franchises, ~800 million as compared to ~660 million last year, has added to the excitement. In the ten years since its inception, the league has attracted some of the biggest brands in the country, as of 2017 popular teams like KKR and Mumbai Indians had more than 15 associates as sponsors or official partners. The revenue earned from sponsorships for such teams is also significant, touching one billion rupees for some. And given the massive reach of the tournament no team is likely to face a shortage of brand interest say close observers of the league.

However the auction strategies on display would play a significant role in garnering sponsor interest and all eyes will be on the teams bidding conservatively and those all out to make a splash. Understandably, both the returning teams – CSK and RR do not have any major brands (or have not announced them yet) backing them right now and would be playing for big stakes at the auction. In the past, these teams have attracted sponsorship from Aircel, Reebok, TCS, Garnier Men and Gulf Oil, among others.

CSK is unlikely to face any problem getting sponsors and associate brands says Das-blah but, RR may find the going tougher. The CSK team management has announced that it has filled all nine sponsorship slots already. “CSK has already started locking sponsors. With their core team in place, they have things in order. The auction will help shape the final team, but in terms of attracting sponsors, their work is almost done,” Das-blah said.