Not sure if market is ready to spend crores on advertisement during IPL, feels Uday Shankar
Uday Shankar keeps a close eye on the league now
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Star India chief Uday Shankar has stated that the market is not in a position to spend a fortune on the Indian Premier League should it go ahead. As a matter of fact, Star, on an average, pays ₹3,270 crore annually for media rights as advertisements are their major source of income.
The pandemic has created a lot of distress among the corporates with the conglomerates having had to suffer massive losses thanks to the lockdown and the downsizing of economic activity at both the micro and macro level. The postponement of the Indian Premier League has also resulted in a huge loss for the board and its broadcasting partner, who are trying to find a workable solution in regards to that.
The October-November window is being touted as the window for the IPL, should the T20 World Cup be postponed, and that will surely work towards helping the board recover some of it. However, Star & Disney India Chairman Uday Shankar believes that the global economic impact of the crisis will work against the advertisement money recovery.
“If there is one tournament where advertisers will put money, that is IPL but only if they have to put money. The market has gone through massive shock. Whether it would recover enough to put thousand of crores worth of advertising in next 6-8 weeks is the real issue and we doubt that,” Shankar was quoted as saying by ET Now.
"I am not sure the market is ready to support the IPL with the same fervour," he added.
The BCCI is keeping its cards close to its chest after the ICC delayed announcing their verdict on the T20 World Cup. The announcement will, however, also depend on the Standard Operating Procedure released by the Indian government and the other state boards.
