IPL 2026 Digital Ads: How Broadcasters Are Cashing in Big

India’s leading sporting property, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has kicked off its 2026 season and brands are bringing their A-game, producing some premium ad content. The official broadcaster, JioStar is going to be the biggest beneficiary of the same, cashing in on the IPL 2026 hype & raking in significant ad revenue from brands.

For the past few years, digital advertising in sports has seen a steady rise as sports consumption has shifted from TV to OTT (Over-the-Top) platforms. On top of that, ever since Jio acquired Disney+ Hotstar’s streaming platform, it has become a broadcasting giant. The combined value of IPL’s broadcasting rights, as a result, has gone up to ₹48,390 crores for the period of 2023-27, which includes Star Sports’ TV rights and Hotstar’s OTT rights.

Naturally, it has put JioStar in the driver’s seat to set the benchmark in terms of the cost per mille – CPM (Cost per thousand impressions) for brands & the 10-second ad spot rates. So, in this blog, you will understand the huge scale of digital advertising in sports along with the high demand & costs of advertising in cricket & the IPL.

IPL 2026  Digital Ad Rates: How much Broadcasters earn?   

What are the various types of Digital Ads?

Live ad inventory from broadcasters involves these types of ads

• FCT – First Commercial Time Ads: Usually used in Linear TV (traditional TV), also becoming relevant on digital & Connected TV (connected vis streaming, smart TVs)

• CTL – Contextual Targeting Ads: Associated with key match moments & align ads based on in-game action & sentiments

• Live Squeeze Up: Banner ads that appear in the side of the screen or at the bottom with tickers & Call-to-Actions (CTAs)

• PPL: Pre & Post Live Segments: Product placements made during the match buildup, mid & post-match shows, often integrating with the coverage.

How much do Digital Ads in IPL cost?

For a 10-second ad spot, broadcasters may charge in the range of ₹5 lakhs to ₹40 lakhs depending on the match’s hype, players involved & several other factors.

Per exchange4media, the digital ad rates for IPL 2026 range from ₹4 lakhs to ₹21.35 lakhs for various types of ads during the live match feed.

• CTL 2 – 10-second spot: ₹21.35 lakhs

• Live Squeeze Up: ₹4.5 lakhs

• PPL – 10-second spot: ₹4 lakhs

Ad slot & packages for Video On-Demand (VOD) and Highlights as well as the live preroll & midroll segments are sold on CPM, ranging from ₹400 to ₹1600.

Are IPL’s Digital Ads becoming more expensive than TV?

As of now, the Sporting Nation report, the split between digital & TV ad spends seems very evenly matched.

However, the higher rate for CTL ads on digital at ₹21.35 lakhs for IPL 2026 compared to ₹18 lakhs for linear TV’s FCT ads show that digital ad rates are becoming expensive.

Why Digital Ads are prioritized?   

Back in 2019, around 82 percent of the advertising spends by brands were for TV advertising. Today, that share has reduced to only 53 percent with 46 percent share dominated by digital ads, per WPP Media’s Sporting Nation report (2026). In 2025, digital ads spends increased by 24 percent compared to 2024, standing at ₹4,449 crores. Meanwhile, TV ads stood at ₹5,117 crores.

Sports Media Spends (TV v Digital Ads Split) Source: Sporting Nation Report – WPP Media (2026)

Now, in IPL’s case, for JioStar as a broadcaster, this split doesn’t matter anymore, given they are an amalgamated entity with both of the television & digital mediums under their belt. Naturally, this has enabled them to avoid any competition in terms of generating interest among brands for purchasing ad slots during the IPL. And they would be further encouraged to upscale their digital operations, considering the increasing footprint of digital streams compared to television.

Another major reason is the dominant nature of IPL as a league across social media platforms. Be it X (Twitter), Instagram, Facebook, blogs & news articles, IPL dominates the conversation with around 28.5 million conversations among fans. To put into perspective, the Indian Super League (ISL) has only around 1 million conversations across these platforms. Meanwhile, this number further drops below for the Women’s Premier League (WPL) and the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) at 0.47 million and 0.28 million.

How IPL Dominates Fans’ Minds on Digital Media Platforms Source: Sporting Nation Report – WPP Media (2026)

So, the digital platforms which drives more engagement via the OTT platforms, it makes more sense for brands to target digital ads more aggressively rather than traditional TV ads. This scenario has evolved drastically over the last 5-7 years, as suggested by WPP Media’s Sporting Nation report.

IPL 2026 Ads: Brands Bring their A-Game 

The first game of IPL 2026 between Royal Challengers Bengaluru & Sunrisers Hyderabad was quite an anticipated one, with the RCB fans looking forward to their team’s first game as defending champions. Naturally, it was going to yield a lot of eyeballs on JioHotstar, which turned out to be a reality, as it received a viewership of nearly 43 crores.

Riding on Star Value  ft. Ranveer Singh, Salman Khan

Now, it seems like brands had prepared in advanced, with the likes of Lloyd, SuperMoney, Campa featured star-driven video ads throughout the game. The first commercial break saw the star couple of Bollywood — Ranveer Singh & Deepika Padukone feature in an ad for Lloyd’s new range of designer ACs. While the product was quite innovative with AI integrations & smart IoT tech, the advertising strategy clearly focused upon capitalizing on Ranveer Singh’s recent popularity due to the success of his movie Dhurandhar!

Likewise, the south Indian star Ram Charan featured in a high-octane advert for Campa’s energy drink range. Now, this was a visible change, given the legendary Amitabh Bachchan has been featuring in Campa Sure’s packaged drinking water ads of late. However, it made sense for Campa to use a younger & energetic face of Ram Charan to promote its energy drink range.

Similarly, Super Money which is payments app launched by Flipkart also went big with its campaign, featuring Salman Khan in a straightforward, short ad that shows him rehearse his lines & nonchalantly finish the ad shoot. Apparently, another fintech company Cred has been doing such adverts for a few years, featuring Bollywood celebrities in a series of ads. So, it’s possible that Super Money features more such celebrities in this innovative ad format, that worked quite well for Cred.

Innovative Tie-Ins ft. Google AI Mode 

Google cracked a deal with IPL to promote its Google AI Search Mode, similar to what they did with Gemini during the Women’s World Cup in 2025 and ChatGPT did during the WPL 2026. This collaboration cleverly takes a spot in the first half of the innings to showcase a prompt about one of the featuring teams as the expert commentators in the box address that query in live commentary feed. During the RCB v SRH game, the first query talked about what tweaks have RCB made to strengthen its batting lineup. This is quite an innovative way to by Google to integrate their product as part of the viewer’s experience during the game. Naturally, it will make the audiences aware of Google’s AI mode.

Similarly, Ceat has been a regular brand in the IPL, being the official partner for its Strategic Time Outs that last for two and a half minutes, taken twice during each innings. This visibility on-ground, and on TV and digital is certainly highly-valuable besides any adverts if Ceat feels the need to produce for the broadcast.

Even Kingfisher is back as IPL’s ‘Good Times’ partner, as they cleverly use their tagline to promote their brand in this manner. The new addition to this tier of brands is Wonder Cement, which is the umpire partner in IPL 2026, featuring its promotional material integrated on the umpire’s clothing and during the TV umpire reviews of the match.

Brands Getting Creative 

All in all, brands understand the phenomenon that IPL has become and are putting their best foot forward to capitalize on it. Domino’s produced a very creative graphically-enhanced to show cheese melting all over the city, for the promotion of its new 6-in-1 Cheese Burst pizza. Meanwhile, brands like Apple, Sunfeast, Flipkart Minutes, Gillette, RuPay and Mother Dairy are also joining the bandwagon.

Digital Ads: New Innovations & Streamlined Strategies 

In terms of the new tech innovations and strategies, both the broadcaster and brands are being more streamlined with their operations & strategies. From targeting users to mapping the customer journey, each aspect is being focused on a granular level, which even though fundamental to good marketing, often falls through in execution.

Smart Ad Space: Targeting & Tracking 

Targeting audiences via geographic, demographic & psychographic segmentation is one of the key methods of optimizing ads space on OTT platforms. Unlike TV commercials that will show one ad for the whole country’s audience, digital ads have that flexibility to customize your ads audience based on your target audience.

For instance, a Mumbai-based user will see the local restaurant or car dealers’ ads. A gaming enthusiast would see PS5 ads. So, a brand isn’t paying an excessive amount to show their ad to audiences who don’t fit their target customers. In terms of tracking data of impressions & clicks as well, the broadcasters also ensure brands get a complete understanding of their ads performance, whether their targeting strategy is working or not.

JioStar: One Stop Shop for IPL Ads 

JioStar’s merger into one entity has made it easier for brands to avoid the hassle of securing ad slots for TV & digital separately. And this can become a new trend in the advertising sector where brands may look to buy integrated packages across digital platforms & devices.

However, for that, even the brand’s marketing plan needs to be executed properly to retain the customer who has clicked on their ad, after getting the appeal of the particular product. For instance, Lloyd kept its website updated with the banner graphic of their new designer AC range that also featured Ranveer Singh & Deepika Padukone.

Lloyd’s website featuring their latest product advertisement during the RCB v SRH game

They knew that people would search for their brand & product after watching the ad, and had to ensure they retained the users on their website. These are small aspects from a marketing perspective that helps you acquire & retain customers through the journey.

Vertical Video Advertising 

You may have noticed how ads starting playing in vertical format often when you in to JioHotstar for streaming any game. This has been made possible via QuickFlip, which is an AI-integrated innovation by Quidich Innovation Labs to creating vertical video ads for OTT platforms.

Given that broadcasters, BCCI & ICC are aiming to increase mobile-first streaming with the rising usage of OTT, this vertical video advertising tech helps them capitalize on the ad space. The seamless nature of the ad video switching from horizontal to vertical and vice-versa.

Brand Moments Beyond Commercial Breaks 

Like the Google AI Search mode integrations, brands can look to become a part of the IPL experience via associating themselves with specific moments of the game. the Ceat Tyres Strategic Timeout is a classic example of the same. Similarly, brands can think of sponsoring other elements of the game as the field placement map, the hawk-eye & worm charts shown as part of the in-game analytics shown during the broadcast.

The buggy camera that’s been introduced by Quidich of late is also a great opportunity for brands like Google, Samsung & other smartphone or camera brands to promote their products. Imagine Google Pixel’s buggy camera getting its moments of spotlight during the IPL games! Similarly, brands can look to find such product-related or their brand-positioning related associations to optimize their advertising strategy.

Capitalizing on Cricket Stars’ Popularity

The likes of Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma often get a massive spotlight on them when they step on the ground during the IPL. The 2026 IPL is also echoing similar sentiments and brands understand that they to capitalize on every second of the screen time that these cricketing stalwarts get during their games.

Now, be it via using L-band ads while the match action is going on, or relaying the ads that feature these stars while they are in action on the pitch, brands need to make the most of their marketing plan. Naturally, the broadcasters charge a premium on their standard ad rates, given they know the viewership will be at its peak while these superstars feature on-screen. Still, capitalizing on their image & appeal is something no brand would want to miss out upon.

Digital Ads = IPL Broadcasters’ Revenue 

To recover their ₹48,390 investment to acquire IPL’s broadcasting rights, JioStar has been quite aggressively onboarding sponsors & advertisers, especially for their digital ad space. Lloyd, Domino’s, Super Money, AMFI, Birla Opus Paints, Sunfeast, Yippee, Google Pay, Gillette, Google Pay, Angel One and many other brands have joined hands with JioStar to advertise during the 2026 IPL.

Naturally, amid the hype of this year’s IPL schedule & marquee star players returning to the field, JioStar would be capitalizing on charging premium ad rates to these brands. Especially, their digital ads strategy has been quite aggressive, with every stream starting with an ad, often also leading to complaints from the audiences in social media communities.

Regardless, from a revenue standpoint, JioStar has to be aggressive to earn ad revenue and recoup the value of their huge broadcasting rights deal for the IPL. That’s the business of sports wherein IPL has become the centerpiece of the showdown.

Conclusion

In terms of appeal & audience interest, it makes sense why IPL has become such a popular sporting property for brands. On top of that, the rising trend of OTT and digital streaming has made digital ads a go-to option for marketers. So, it makes sense how brands like Super Money, Lloyd, Domino’s, Google, among others have put their best foot forward by bringing in trending celebs, introducing their new innovative products and going all in in terms of putting forth the best ad content for IPL 2026.

With every passing season of the IPL, brands are getting cleverer in utilizing new ways of promotion on digital platforms. Be it via associating with particular in-game moments or capitalizing on the star premium of stalwarts like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, by placing the ads when they feature in action. This way, they are optimizing their ad spends.

To summarize, these ad strategies on digital platforms will keep evolving. However, the core fundamentals of marketing remain the same, irrespective of the money any brand spends to advertise during the IPL.