IPL is back. The country’s biggest sports and marketing extravaganza returns next month, bringing much-needed cheer in these grim times to millions of cricket-loving Indians & the sports, media and advertising industries. The biggest cricket property in the world, valued at $6.8 billion last year, the IPL has been a highly sought-after marketing and advertising blitz for brands and media planners. The media spend for last year’s IPL alone was estimated at over Rs 2,000 crore. This, however, is the year of the pandemic; the demand, particularly for non-essential products and services, has taken a severe hit. Thus, the question remains: Will advertisers and sponsors spend big on IPL 2020 as well, or will they remain tight-fisted? Importantly, can IPL bring back positive sentiments and some sense of normalcy, dispelling the gloom and doom in marketing and advertising?

What works in favour of brands and marketers is that IPL is clearly the biggest marketing opportunity this year. There are hardly any big-ticket events around – sports, entertainment or otherwise. The mood is low and people are looking for a refreshing change. With a big chunk of the audience working from home, the undivided attention and the number of eyeballs that IPL 2020 will garner is likely to be much higher. The mega cricketing event coincides with the festive season this year, providing marketers with an ideal high reach and high impact platform to get more bang from the buck. How will advertisers/brands respond? Will they go slow amidst sluggish sales and dwindling marketing budgets or leverage it as an opportunity to revive and recover? The pandemic has brought all sports and sporting events to a halt. The other sports leagues – kabaddi, badminton, wrestling etc – as also numerous sportspersons face an uncertain future. Can IPL show the way and help restore other sporting activities as well?

• The impact of Covid-19 on sports and the business of sports. Can IPL help sports make a comeback?
• How will brands and advertisers respond to IPL this year? Will they shy from big advertising spends or leverage the event to revive and recover? Will low consumer demand for non-essentials affect those brands’ proclivity to advertise?
• Will IPL, coinciding with the festive season further push up advertising spends? Are advertisers seeing it as a bonanza to make a higher impact?
• Which brand categories will spend big money on the IPL? Which will remain tight-fisted? Will digital/online brands have high visibility this season?
• Will media spend on digital platforms be higher? Will it cut into the spend on television? How do online sports gaming platforms stand to gain from the big event?
• The world of online sports gaming and how they’ve fared in the absence of real sports during the pandemic.
• The current landscape of esports in India and what’s the future like.