IPL 2023 could be a pivotal moment for digital sport

More than 500 million people are expected to stream the 2023 India Premier League (IPL) on digital devices, overtaking traditional TV viewing.

Background 

Media rights for the Indian Premier League are shared between Disney Star (TV) and Viacom18 (digital). The shift towards digital is a direct consequence of the decision by Viacom18’s JioCinema subsidiary to offer free streaming of the annual cricket competition, so accelerating a trend towards digital sports viewing that was already under way.

Why it matters

The media rights for the IPL have increased every time they come up for sale and both Star Sports and JioCinema now face a challenge to recruit viewers and advertisers in sufficient numbers to realise a return on their huge investments. How the battle between them plays out has implications for everything from audience reach to ad rates.

One observer suggests that digital could add an extra 200 million viewers to the existing base of between 500 and 600 million, while an advertiser thinks the cost per contact will go down as acquisition of customers happens at a faster scale.

Takeaways 

• The number of Pay TV households has declined from 129 million in 2020 to 108 million in 2022.
• Free streaming is likely to significantly increase viewership in smaller towns and rural areas.
• TV viewing may gain from being a more reliable experience; JioCinema had complaints about the quality and experience of its coverage of the FIFA World Cup last year.

Final thought

“Advertisers may have to do a rethink in the middle of IPL 2023 based on the viewership numbers and be ready to bet their monies on winning platforms” says medianews4u. 

Sourced from e4m, medianews4u
^{[Image: BCCI]}