With 4 days to go, will Sony’s Tokyo Olympics gamble beat the Rio figures?

With just four days to go for the start of the Tokyo Olympics 2020, apart from the performance of some of the world’s greatest athletes as well as the Indian team, all eyes are also on the advertiser response. The Tokyo Olympics is being held after a one-year delay due to the global pandemic. The shadow of COVID-19 still looms large as the virus bubble has been burst as news of some athletes/ staff testing COVID-19 positive is emerging.

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Refusing to be dampened by the pandemic that has cost the world so much, broadcasters ad brands are looking to tap into the world’s greatest sporting event. Sony Pictures Sports Network (SPSN) is the official broadcaster of the Games in India. So far, the network has named 15 sponsors that have come on board for the Tokyo Olympics, including Amul, Coca-Cola, JSW, MPL, and Hero MotoCorp, who are the co-presenting sponsors. AMFI, RBI, Visa, Lenovo, Byju’s, and Herbalife Nutrition are the associate sponsors.

In an earlier interaction with Adgully, Rohit Gupta, Chief Revenue Officer - Ad Sales and International Business, Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI), had said, “Non-cricket sports are also becoming very important for advertisers.” He explained, “Unlike cricket, there are no ad rates in the Olympics, there are packages. These differ in India from match to match, day to day. What you do is, you sell packages as it is over so many days, so there is no inventory issued on this unlike cricket. Roughly our packages vary from Rs 3 crore to Rs 8 crore, depending on what level of sponsorship a person comes for, associates or co-presenting, so that is the kind of advertisements brands are looking for.”

Though there are no official figures available, as per industry estimates, Sony is expected to earn around Rs 100 crore from sponsorships.

To compare with the Rio Olympics, held in 2016, the last Olympics had attracted 13 advertisers, which advertised for 35 Brands in 25 Categories, as per TAM AdEx data. Star Sports had the broadcast rights for the Rio Olympics 2016, and Star Sports 1, 2, 4, HD1, HD2, HD4, Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 1 HD Hindi and DD National were the channels that brought the Games live to viewers in India.

During Live Telecast of Rio Olympics 2016, ‘Corporate-Auto’ was the top category with 31% share of Ad Volumes, followed by ‘Corporate-Durables’ with 13% share. ‘Hero Motocorp’ topped among both advertisers and brands with 31% share of Ad Volumes. The Top 10 Categories, Advertisers and Brands together had 91%, 98% and 85% share of Ad Volumes, respectively.

Amul has had a long association with the Olympics as a sponsor. The advertiser was a prominent sponsor for the Rio Olympics 2016 as well, along with Hero Motocorp, Bajaj Electricals, Amazon Online India, Axis Bank, Dabur India, Tamilnadu Cricket Association, Indian Oil Corporation, and Lenskart.com, among others.

Globally, the Tokyo Olympics 2020 is being seen as a major event to drive sports sponsorship and revive ad spends. But the shadow of COVID-19 looms large. Already Japanese auto major Toyota has withdrawn all TV ads for the Olympics. Most Japanese have been openly against the holding of the Games amid the pandemic.

Will Sony see a successful Olympics season this year, especially after the tremendous advertiser response to UEFA Euro and Copa America football tournaments? It’s a wait and watch.

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