Brands queue up for fourth season of Pro Kabaddi League

MUMBAI: The Pro Kabaddi League — the only sporting league in India to have two consecutive seasons in the same year — has seen an increased interest from advertisers in the ongoing fourth season despite it returning just three months after the previous round. In the 14 matches played in its first week (June 25 to July 2), PKL witnessed an increase in the count of brands advertising during the telecast to 15, compared with eight in the previous season for the same number of matches, showed data from TAM Sports, a specialised division of TAM Media Research.

In season 3, PKL had seven advertisers, who advertised eight different brands in as many categories. In the current season, there are a do-zen advertisers, in 11 different categories. Durables was the top advertised category with an 18% share of the ad volume. The top 5 advertisers — Bajaj Electricals, Bharti Airtel, Syntech Technology (Gionee), State Bank of India and Nestle India — together had more than two-thirds of the ad duration.

The data also show a major shift in the ranks of advertising categories in season 4. Perfumes/deos, lubricants, biscuits, auto loans and face wash were among the top 10 this season so far. In fact, the only category which saw a drop in ad volume share was housing and construction loans. It was the fourth most advertised category in the third season, but is at No. 8 this time.