Big Brands Spend $3,600 A Second On Ads During India-Hosted Cricket World Cup: Expert

As cricket-obsessed India hosts the World Cup this year, global companies are paying millions of dollars in exchange for their brands to be seen by a large globe-spanning audience. They will be spending around $3,600 a second on ads.

Experts say the Cricket World Cup will likely boost India's economy by around $2.4 billion.

The cricket fever is expected to stay high for weeks as the World Cup kicks off Thursday and has matches lined up till mid-November. Fans are expected to travel domestically and internationally for the matches, scheduled to take place in 10 cities across the country.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) Men's T20 World Cup last year saw new milestones in digital engagement and live streaming. The number of video views stood at 6.58 billion, surpassing the Men's T20 World Cup 2021 record by 65%. ICC also said "strong TV broadcasting figures" were recorded across the world, especially in the U.K. and host Australia.

As the Cricket World Cup 2023 kicks off, sponsors are assured a large worldwide audience from Europe to Africa to Australia for their ads. But, foreign brands will be eyeing India's massive population for their campaigns, said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Bank of Baroda.

Big names like Coca-Cola and Google Pay are paying for airtime, while brands like Saudi Aramco, Emirates and Nissan Motor are on the list of ICC's official partners.

Although cricket has less fanfare across the world in comparison to a sport like soccer, the reverse is true in host country India, where there is a "kind of frenzy" around cricket that "is not present elsewhere," Sabnavis said.

"The Cricket World Cup is the biggest sporting event of the year for fans across the country," said Yannick Colaco, co-founder of FanCode, the International Cricket Council's official retail partner in India for the event. "No other sports tournament captures the hearts and minds of Indian fans like a World Cup. That's why you see brands and companies making a beeline to be associated with the tournament."

Jehil Thakkar, a partner at Deloitte India, estimates that brands will spend about $240 million on advertisement spots on streaming platforms during the weekslong tournament.

"Demand for eyeballs is really strong," Thakkar added.

He also noted that the cost for a 10-second advertising slot during matches is now a little more than $36,000, marking a 40% increase compared to the last World Cup in 2019.

The travel and hospitality sectors in India are expected to see increased activity as fans travel for matches or gather in restaurants or bars to watch them. They are also likely to spend more on takeouts.

Jefferies analyst Prateek Kumar said hotel fares have shot up by 150% on average for India match days.

"Occupancies for match days are already running high which has resulted in rates rising sharply and rates are likely to mostly increase further closer to match dates," Kumar said.