Star Sports, the official broadcaster of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final, has signed a 16 sponsors as live cricket returns after Indian Premier League (IPL) suspension. These include Byjus, Dream 11, Cars24, Thums Up and Skoda, MRF, Cred, PolicyBazaar, Pharmeasy, PaisaBazaar, Niyo Solutions, Google Search, YouTube, Google Voice Assistant, and mobile handset brand Realme among others.
The WTC final is scheduled to be played from 18 to 22 June at The Ageas Bowl in Southampton, England.
“We’re glad that live cricket is returning to the screens after the IPL 2021 was paused. The WTC is a marquee Test match and with India being a finalist, we anticipate high interest from fans across the country. This is an opportune time for advertisers to capitalize on the high-quality attention and the pent-up demand to upscale visibility and engagement with consumers,” said Anil Jayaraj, executive vice-president, Star Sports.
The broadcaster said that it has signed over 30 advertisers across categories such as edtech, gaming, online payments and financial services, auto & ancillaries, construction, consumer durables and beverages. Some of the key advertisers which have come on board include Kia India, Renault, Unacademy, Apple, Dell, and TVS.
Apart from the convenient prime time slot (3pm and 10.30 pm), Star is expecting high viewership as the first three days of the Test match final will be played on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Multiple state lockdowns and restrictions are expected to further aid the viewership.
“The Test format has been increasingly gaining importance – the steady rise especially in the last four years is a testament to this. A great example being the recent India-England series on our network which received the highest viewership in Tests,” added Jayaraj.
In a bid to build up interest among fans, Star has unveiled a promotional campaign https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55T6NR0kBKg which is a montage of winning moments from India’s previously played Test matches. The film, voiced by cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle, captures the journey of the Indian team in the lead up to this WTC final, where they will be up against New Zealand team. WTC final will culminate the ongoing two-year long Test match series, with over 50 Test matches, to crown the first winner of the tournament.
Star Sports will broadcast then final across five languages – Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada.
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