The later half of the Indian Premier League (IPL) saw higher traction from advertisers on television. As per the latest data released by TAM Sports, ad volumes for the last 37 matches of the recently concluded 16th edition of the IPL was up 5 per cent compared with the first 37 matches.

“The tally of categories, advertisers and brands rose 18 per cent, 22 per cent and 9 per cent respectively, during the last 37 matches compared with the first 37 matches of IPL 16,” the report by TAM Sports, a division of TAM Media Research noted.

The analysis includes advertising on live matches across 26 channels of Disney Star network.

Top five categories

The top five categories in terms of advertisers across the 74 matches included pan masala, e-commerce-gaming, biscuits, aerated soft drinks and cellular phone services. This was in stark contrast to the previous season when fintech, ed-tech and e-commerce shopping were among key advertisers on the T20 league.

“During IPL 16, the top five categories accounted for 52 per cent of total ad volume, compared with 39 per cent in IPL 15. Pan Masala topped IPL 16, while it ranked third in IPL 15, whereas the topper of IPL 15, e-commerce gaming slid down to second place in IPL 16,” the report added.

Sporta Technologies (Dream11), K P Pan Foods (Kamla Pasand), Parle Biscuits, Coca-Cola India and Vishnu Packaging (Vimal) emerged as the top five advertisers on IPL 16. “ The top five sponsors contributed 37 per cent to the overall ad volume,” the report stated.

Over 15 new categories were seen advertising on the recently-concluded season of the T20 league compared to the previous season. These included biscuits, dry fruits, online travel, luggage and moisturising lotions.

Brands preferred to place shorter ads in IPL 16. “During commercial breaks, 11-20 second ads were the most preferred (47 per cent). Ads with 40+ seconds had only 0.1 per cent ad insertion share,” TAM Sports added.