Disney's India Arm Hopes To Rake In Millions From Lucrative Cricket Commercials

This story was first published on the Benzinga India portal.

Walt Disney Co's DIS arm Disney-Star’s Asian sports broadcast channel Star Sports and streaming platform Disney+ Hotstar in India are eyeing steep fees from advertisers for the upcoming Asia Cup and ICC Cricket World Cup.

What Happened? As per media reports, As per media reports, Star Sports is seeking INR 1,200 million ($15 million) for co-presenting sponsorship and INR 900 million ($11 million) for associate sponsorship, according to recently released rate cards for the highly anticipated Cricket World Cup. Additionally, the broadcasters are asking spot buyers to pay a premium rate of INR 3. 1 million ($37,801) per 10 seconds for India matches and knockout clashes.

As for the Asia Cup, Star Sports aims to secure INR 260 million ($3.17 million) for a co-presenting sponsorship and INR 200 million ($2.44 million) for an associate sponsorship. It is also looking for spot buy rates of INR 2.5 million ($30,485) per 10 seconds for the India-Pakistan match as well as the finals.

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Disney Star’s streaming service, Disney+ Hotstar, which plans to offer both events for free to mobile users, is seeking INR 1,500 million ($18.3 million) for co-presenting sponsorship and Rs 750 million ($9.15 million) for the “powered-by” sponsorship for the World Cup. Its target for associate sponsorship stands at INR 400 million ($5 million)

For the Asia Cup, the streaming platform is requesting INR 300 million ($3.7 million) for co-presenting sponsorship and INR 180 million ($2.2 million) for the “powered-by” sponsorship. The associate sponsorship is set at INR 120 million ($1.46 million).

Advertisers interested in purchasing ad spots on mobile will need to invest INR 1.5 million (USD 18,293) per 10 seconds for the World Cup and INR 1.2 million ($14,635) per 10 seconds for the Asia Cup.

When Is The World Cup? The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023, scheduled to take place in India from October 5 to November 19, will feature nine confirmed league matches involving India. Meanwhile, the Asia Cup, which will be co-hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka from August 30 to September 17, will involve a total of 13 one-day internationals, with India expected to play two confirmed group-stage matches.

US-based parent Disney has been reportedly considering different strategies for its Star India business, which could include partnering with another company or even selling it, as the unit struggles to hold on to subscribers after losing a bidding war for the streaming rights to the lucrative Indian Premier League. 

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