IPL 2026 Digital Ads: How Broadcasters Are Cashing in Big

How Broadcasters Earn via Digital Ads

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.

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