PhonePe gets advertising rights for Rs 150 crore from Star Sports for ICC World Cup

Star Sports, a group of television sports channel owned by Disney Star, has bagged Rs 150 crore sponsorship, for TV advertisements, from digital payment solutions provider PhonePe. With this PhonePe joins a growing list of popular brands that can advertise during the cricket World Cup starting in a couple of weeks.

Disney Star, which owns and operates Star Sports and Disney+Hotstar OTT, is the official channel to relay ICC ODI Word Cup 2023 for both TV and digital platforms. It will be broadcasting the 50-overs ICC World Cup mega tournament. The World Cup will see 10 countries fighting for the coveted trophy and there are a total of 48 matches scheduled.

The other major industry giants which have brought the multi-billion rupees sponsorship from Disney Star for the World Cup includes Hindustan Unilever, Mahindra & Mahindra and Coca-Cola. Additionally, with the growing interest of more and more women in cricket, it is being believed that many more women centric advertisers will be on boarding the ‘brand’ wagon, in the coming World Cup. A Disney Star top official had earlier said they are bullish about getting robust sponsorships from most sectors, be it startups or established firms, banking on flexible advertising packages for the recently-concluded marquee Asia Cup and upcoming ICC ODI World Cup, which are likely to get unprecedented reach.

With India and Pakistan, set to play against each other in the World Cup, this would surely be a great crowd puller. Media experts have also forecasted that matches involving Australia, England, South Africa and New Zealand are also expected to see a scale equivalent to an India-Pakistan match.

Star Sports, which had broadcasted Asia Cup 2023, achieved a record milestone for sports viewing in India. With an astonishing 266 million viewers tuning in to the Star Sports live broadcast for the tournament, excluding the final, Asia Cup 2023 has become the most-watched edition of the tournament. 

Disney Star has also announced that the World Cup will be streamed without subscription charges on mobile phones and tablets.