WARC, 25 February 2014
NEW DELHI: This year's Indian Premier League (IPL) is set to
be played outside the country because of security concerns as it clashes with
elections, but TV viewing figures and advertising rates are expected to be
unaffected.
The government has indicated that with elections due in
April/May it would not be able to provide adequate security cover for the
competition, due to take place between 9 April and 3 June, and the organisers
are now considering alternative venues, including South Africa, although the
final could still take place in India.
A similar situation unfolded five years ago when IPL2 was
moved to South Africa and television rating points dropped from 5.59 to 4.84,
but MSM, which owns the broadcast rights, was optimistic that viewing figures
would remain buoyant. Over the history of the competition these have doubled
from 78m in 2008 to 140m in 2013.
"Even if the initial games shift out, the matches will
still be telecast at 8pm India time and that should not impact television
viewing," Rohit Gupta, president of network sales at MSM, told Livemint.
That assessment was echoed by Varun Gupta, managing director
of brand valuation firm American Appraisal India, who noted that matches would
still be shown on prime time in India. "So I don't think the viewership
will be impacted significantly, if at all," he said, adding: "And
hence even the advertising rates won't suffer."
IPL team franchisees, however, will take a hit, losing up to
40% of their potential revenues from gate receipts, the Economic Times
reported, in addition to food and drinks sales within grounds.
"Sponsorships too will be impacted as some sponsors may
shy away from signing due to the movement," added Hemant Dua, chief
executive officer of GMR Sports, which owns the Delhi Daredevils team.
PepsiCo, the lead tournament sponsor, said it was in
dialogue with the Board of Cricket Control in India which it hoped would
"find a solution which is in the best interest of all stakeholders".
Data sourced from Livemint, Economic Times; additional
content by Warc staff
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