Just pay for the matches played, Star & Disney India tells IPL advertisers

Star & Disney India has informed all advertisers that had bought airtime on the now-suspended 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) that they will get the first right to continue with ad deals if and when the tournament resumes.

On Tuesday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the IPL Governing Council suspended IPL 2021 with 29 of the 60 matches completed after players and support staff, including coaches, across multiple franchises testing positive.

That sparked concerns among advertisers and their media buying agencies as the contract with Star & Disney India had no exit clause. However, Star & Disney executives confirmed to ET that the broadcaster had informed all advertisers of its decision about a mutual agreement.


“This is an exceptional situation and while at the start we were also not sure on how things will continue, we have informed the advertisers and their agencies that they will be billed only for the inventory they have consumed,” a person with knowledge of the matter told ET.

ET had first reported that Star & Disney had sold the entire inventory for the IPL and was expected to cross over Rs 3,200 crore in advertising revenue. However, with half the tournament suspended, Star's ad revenues are expected to be a little over Rs 1,500 crore so far. Multiple agencies and advertisers have confirmed that the contracts were non-cancellable.

If the BCCI decides to resume the league at a later date, Star & Disney has decided to give the advertisers the option to continue.

“If and whenever the IPL starts, we will go back to the existing partners, giving them the first right to participate. If they don’t wish to, they may opt out,” said the person cited above.

While most of the startups are expected to continue with the league whenever it resumes, some of the ‘summer’ brands, which spend during the season, may decide not to continue if IPL resumes in September like last year, a media buyer said.

“One of our clients was a bit concerned about the way forward as they may not want to advertise during monsoons or winters and were asking us if they will have to spend the same amount on another network channel,” a senior media buyer said. “But Star has been very proactive and has clarified that they won't be forced to continue.”

Meanwhile, the viewership data for the first 26 matches, which was released on Thursday, shows that the cumulative reach of the tournament exceeded that of last year. As per BARC data, the reach of the first 26 matches in IPL 2021 was 352 million, compared with 349 million for IPL 2020. Cumulative reach is the total number of individuals who viewed an event or match for at least one minute. “We still believe that postponing the season was the right decision to ensure the safety of everyone involved and in line with the prevailing situation” said a Star Sports spokesperson.