IPL 2023: Disney Star and Jio unleash the War of the Stars

The much-awaited Indian Premier League (IPL) starts today. As the nation gears up for an epic battle between teams, a different kind of war is already brewing between Star Sports and JioCinema, the official media rights holders of IPL.Each has roped in an array of celebrities to expand the viewership and attract first-time viewers, giving rise to, what some brand experts call, an intense rivalry between the two broadcasting giants.This is the first time that IPL will be telecast on two broadcasting platforms. In what appears to be a battle for viewership between the two, Star Sports and JioCinema are bringing many celebrities from cricket and Bollywood onboard to grab more eyeballs.While actor Ranveer Singh is the brand ambassador for Star Sports, cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar has been roped in by JioCinema to promote the cricket tournament.On one hand, Star Sports is betting on glueing viewers to their television screens, on the other, JioCinema is enticing audiences with a unique digital experience.According to Aviral Jain, Managing Director of Kroll, an independent provider of global risk and financial advisory solutions, both platforms have roped in A-list celebrities for a “fierce war” ahead of the cricket tournament.“Upcoming IPL has resulted in an intense rivalry between the two broadcasting giants, Star Sports and JioCinema, competing to attract a higher viewership base. Both have roped in multiple A-list celebrities for a fierce ad war ahead of IPL's commencement. The campaigns have already created a big buzz amongst fans with exponential social chatter.“This is the first time where digital rights have gone outside Star's ambit and both the companies have a clear mandate of maintaining (or creating) leadership to attract max advertisers at premium rates,” Jain said.Experts also believe that this battle may result in overall high viewership.“This battle should result in an overall higher viewership as the companies dole out goodies including free streaming/broadcast and live streaming in multiple regional languages. It will be interesting to see how this battle further evolves as the nation swarms into the cricket fever,” Jain said.

According to Kroll’s 8th Celebrity Brand Valuation Study titled, ‘Beyond the Mainstream’, Ranveer Singh is the most valued celebrity of 2022 with a brand value of USD 181.7 million.

Apart from Singh, Disney Star has brought on board actor Ajay Devgn, and cricket stalwarts Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya urging viewers to watch IPL on their TV sets.

Roping in an eclectic mix of cricketers and Bollywood stars to promote a sporting event isn't as outlandish as it made out to be, believes Nisha Sampath, MD, Bright Angels Consulting. "In a country where film and cricket are both religions, and both share a symbiotic relationship, it’s not really out of place to use film stars to endorse cricket," she said.

Citing the recent 3 Idiots ad of Dream11, Sampath illustrated how collaboration between cricketers and b-town stars can work: "Everyone loves it! Maybe both brands are hoping that using film stars will improve cut through and memorability of their campaigns. Film stars will also appeal across the audience, unlike cricket stars who are all associated with particular franchises.”Besides the ‘master-blaster’, JioCinema has collaborated with cricket stars MS Dhoni and Suryakumar Yadav asking people to watch IPL on the digital platform anywhere.

Disney Star bringing in an eclectic mix of Bollywood stars and cricketers to promote the event is a surefire way to rope in new viewers, said Samit Sinha, Founder of Alchemist Brand Consulting. “When non-cricket celebrities like film stars are roped in, the idea and intent are to expand the viewership and attract newer viewers or first-time viewers," he noted.

“The idea is also to generate interest among non-traditional followers of cricket. Earlier cricket was traditionally followed by males but now with IPL, it has become less traditional and more of an entertainment spectacle. Viewers are now more diverse and the intent behind roping in celebrities is to further expand the viewership and reach out to newer audiences,” Sinha said.Sinha added that the direct benefit of roping in celebrities to the broadcasters is more viewership and more premium on advertising spots.“These platforms can increase the rates they charge the advertisers. Also, a secondary benefit is that it could add to the stature of Star and Jio,” he said.Earlier, while announcing the association of cricket’s celebrated icons Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and Surya Kumar Yadav with JioCinema, Viacom18 Sports CEO Anil Jayaraj had said it would amplify TATA IPL’s digital streaming partner’s vision of making cricket viewing synonymous with digital.“MS Dhoni has set unparalleled benchmarks and evolved rapidly, which aligns with our vision and proposition on how sports viewing is best experienced on digital. Suryakumar Yadav represents the same qualities that we stand for—world-class innovation, unmatched thrill and the need to keep fans engaged and entertained.“Sachin Tendulkar is synonymous with cricket. We are thrilled to have him amplify JioCinema’s proposition for sports fans of unmatched experience of watching their favourite sports on digital,” Jayaraj had said.In a press release about signing Ranveer Singh, Disney Star’s Head-Sports Sanjog Gupta said that sports in India is on the move but needs a continuous injection of fandom to turn into a full-fledged movement.“In Ranveer Singh, we see a die-hard sports fan, a committed storyteller, and an entertainer par excellence, who is keen to use his popularity to grow sports. Working with him, we want to reach new audiences, who still haven’t discovered their passion for the sport.“This also includes millions of viewers, who haven’t been watching Cricket or don’t watch Cricket regularly. We want to use, in conjunction, the power of storytelling and Ranveer’s popularity, to create a compelling invitation for them,” Gupta said.However, on the contrary, Rediffusion Managing Director Sandeep Goyal told exchange4media that bringing celebrities on board was no new formula and it neither adds buzz to IPL nor does it help recognise it as a brand.“Celebrities are used to attract attention. It is no new formula to sign more celebrities. This neither adds buzz to IPL nor does it help recognise it as a brand. It does add some news to the promotions but again IPL does not require promotion. People who watch IPL, watch it anyway. Over-usage of unnecessary usage of celebrities does not enhance the value of IPL,” Goyal said.Co-Founder and Chairman of RD&X Network Ashish Bhasin believes that celebrities alone do not contribute to viewership.“IPL has combined sports and entertainment. For the first time, IPL has moved from male viewership to family viewing. There has been an element of glamour in IPL with Bollywood being roped in.“As a strategy, it can work if it is effectively used. Which celebrity is brought on board plays a vital role. Many factors contribute to IPL viewership, not just celebrities alone,” Bhasin said.According to the Celebrity Brand Valuation Report, which provides a ranking of India’s most powerful celebrity brands based on brand values derived from their brand endorsement portfolios and relative social media presence, Virat Kohli secured second position with a brand value of USD 176.9 million and Akshay Kumar stays steady at the third position with a brand value of USD 153.6 million.The overall brand value of the top 25 celebrities in 2022 is estimated at USD 1.6 billion (bn), an increase of 29.1% from 2021.

IPL commences today in Gujarat with the first match between Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings.