Businesses, brands, and your competitors are all using IPL advertising in 2026. But are they doing it right?
Excellent Publicity is a leading IPL advertising agency with over 14 years of experience. Over the years, we have worked with brands with limited budgets to enterprises ready to make a mark on the map.
And in this guide, we are sharing everything from our experience to help you better prepare for the biggest sports marketing opportunity in India.
How big? Based on recent data, IPL advertising is an opportunity to tap into an overall viewership of 495 million on TV, 438 million on OTT, and over 3.83 billion views on social media platforms.
We are sharing everything here, so without taking any more time, let’s jump right into the insights.
Why Choose IPL Advertising in 2026?
IPL Advertising in 2026 offers more than just visibility. It delivers measurable business impact across brand-building and performance marketing objectives.
1. Brand Awareness
IPL is one of the most-watched sporting events in the country, cutting across age groups, regions, and income segments. Advertising during IPL ensures mass reach in a short span of time. It helps a brand achieve nationwide awareness within weeks rather than months or years.
2. Perception
Association with IPL elevates brand perception. When a brand is seen alongside premium cricket content, it inherits the excitement and prestige of the tournament. This creates a positive emotional connection with consumers.
3. Credibility
Being present during IPL signals scale and market leadership. Consumers often perceive IPL advertisers as established and trustworthy brands due to the premium content and competitive nature of the platform.
4. Outshining Competitors
IPL is a high-impact visibility battleground. Brands that invest strategically can dominate the share of voice within their category, especially with category exclusivity options. A strong IPL presence not only builds recall but also prevents competitors from capturing the spotlight during one of the most competitive marketing seasons of the year.
5. Community Building
IPL builds passionate fan communities around teams and players. Brands can tap into these communities through partnerships, contests, and digital engagement, creating deeper emotional loyalty. These are high-value communities that buy team jerseys and show them off. For a brand, it gives an opportunity to build that connection directly with that audience group.
6. Innovative Campaigns
IPL advertising is your custom platter. From moment marketing and interactive OTT ads to jersey sponsorships and branded segments. IPL allows brands to experiment with creative, immersive campaigns that go beyond traditional advertising.
7. Custom Goals
Whether the objective is mass reach, premium positioning, lead generation, app installs, or retail push. IPL offers flexible formats to align with specific business KPIs. While the deliverables from IPL advertising are mostly standard, how a brand uses them determines the impact of IPL advertising.
How IPL Advertising Works?
IPL advertising is not linear. Broadly, there are four ways to advertise your brand during IPL, with a fixed set of deliverables and packages.
But again, these deliverables and packages are also customisable based on your brand's objective, target audience, and budget.
An advertising agency like Excellent Publicity helps you plan and execute a campaign that specifically works for your brand. In 2019, Chawla Band wanted to put themselves in front of the nation. Excellent Publicity curated a campaign where, instead of cheer-leaders, members from the band will perform every four to six hits.
The possibilities within IPL advertising are endless. But to share an overview, let’s go over each type of IPL advertising in 2026 to understand how each one of them works.
Types of IPL Advertising in 2026
1. IPL OTT Ads
IPL OTT ads are the advertisements that we see during IPL on the JioHotstar OTT platform. They are entry-level campaigns for brands that want to try IPL advertising, with good targeting options and no spillage.
These digital ads appear on handheld devices like mobile phones, laptops, and tablets, along with Connected TVs (CTVs). They offer multiple ad formats such as video, static, or interactive, which can be targeted to a specific audience.
As per recent data, IPL on OTT had a viewership of 438 million. These are non-skippable ads, which can engage the audience in various formats. Let’s go over the most common types of IPL OTT ads in 2026.
a. Video ads
Video ads are non-skippable commercials that play before the match begins (pre-roll) or during breaks in live streaming (mid-roll) on JioHotstar. These ads deliver high visibility and strong engagement during key match moments.
b. Static Ads
Static ads appear as on-screen placements around the live stream, ensuring constant brand presence without interrupting viewing. Formats like banners and L-bands offer subtle yet effective visibility throughout the match.
c. Interactive Ads
Interactive ads allow viewers to engage directly through polls, quizzes, or lead forms while watching the IPL. These formats help brands capture user data and boost engagement beyond traditional impressions.
d. OTT Sponsorship
OTT sponsorships integrate brands into live coverage through branded segments, in-studio mentions, or real-time moment marketing. This format builds stronger brand recall by associating with premium IPL content.
How are IPL OTT ads optimized?
IPL OTT advertising on JioHotstar is optimized differently across handheld mobile devices and Connected TVs (CTV). This ensures that your brand gets both scale and precision targeting.
For Handheld & Web devices
Mobile drives massive reach during IPL. It allows brands to reach the personal space and be visible when the audience is highly engaged with live sports streaming. On JioHotstar, you can target your ads on 3 levels at a time. These targets can be based on:
- Match feed
- Demography
- Region
- Gender
- Age
- Device Price
- User Behaviour
This layered targeting ensures minimal spillage and highly relevant ad delivery.
For Connected TV
CTV advertising focuses on premium, high-attention audiences watching on larger screens. Compared to the handheld audience, CTV delivers a stronger brand impact due to its big-screen, lean-back viewing experience. CTV also offers targeted ads on a 1-level. You can select your target audience based on region.
Excellent Publicity helps you with everything from choosing the right OTT ad format to optimizing them to reach your target audience. Experts with years of experience in Sports marketing ensure that the impact of your ads is visible in the real world.
2. IPL TV Ads
IPL TV Ads are commercials shown during IPL matches. IPL TV broadcasting is with Star Sports, and it remains one of the largest advertising platforms in India.
The Indian Premier League delivers massive nationwide reach across urban and rural markets. This makes TV advertising during IPL a high-impact, mass-awareness medium for brands targeting millions in a single match.
There are mainly two ways to get started with IPL TV ads.
Spot Buys
A spot buy means purchasing a fixed-duration commercial slot (typically 10–30 seconds) during live match broadcasts. These ads are aired during innings breaks, strategic time-outs, and between overs.
Excellent Publicity recommends buying at least 5 ad spots per match to ensure:
- Better frequency and recall
- Consistent visibility across key match moments
- Stronger brand impact among viewers
Additionally, L-band advertising is also an option that you can opt for. It is a non-intrusive format where the brand appears as an on-screen frame overlay during live match play, ensuring visibility even while the game continues.
TV Sponsorship
IPL TV sponsorship offers deeper brand integration beyond regular ad spots. It builds a stronger brand recall by associating with the premium IPL content and key events. Some of the various ways through which you can get started with IPL TV sponsorship are:
- Moment Marketing: Branding during key match highlights like “Super Sixes” or “Strategic Time-Out.”
- Segment Sponsorship: Sponsoring specific show segments such as pre-match analysis, toss coverage, or post-match presentations.
- In-Studio Engagement: Brand integration within expert discussions, on-ground activations, and presenter mentions.
These formats are highly customizable and can be strategically curated to cater to your brand. It builds a stronger brand association by embedding the brand directly into IPL content rather than appearing only during ad breaks.
How are IPL TV ads optimized?
IPL TV advertising during the Indian Premier League is optimized primarily through smart channel selection and audience segmentation rather than individual-level targeting.
a. Channel Selection Strategy
Brands can choose specific regional or language channels under Star Sports to align with their target geography and audience. For example, selecting Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, or Kannada feeds allows brands to focus on high-potential regional markets and reduce wastage.
b. HD Channel Targeting
Brands can specifically opt for HD channels to reach a more premium, urban, and affluent audience segment. HD viewers are typically higher-income households, making this option ideal for targeting premium consumers only.
c. Spot Frequency
Optimization also happens through maintaining consistent frequency across matches to improve recall and effectiveness.
3. Team Association & Partnership
With Team Association and Official Partnership in the Indian Premier League, brands enter the big leagues of cricket marketing. These opportunities go far beyond traditional TV and OTT ads, offering premium, high-value deliverables and special tier benefits that create deeper brand integration with fans.
a. Team Association
In IPL advertising, team association typically involves sponsoring a spot on a player’s jersey. There are 10 sponsorship spots available on a jersey, each offering different visibility and benefit levels.
When a brand associates with a team, it can receive:
- Logo placement on the team jersey (based on the sponsored spot)
- Rights to use the team logo, player images, and player signatures
- Opportunity to shoot a TVC/digital commercial with players in the official team jersey
- Meet & greet sessions with players
- Brand presence on perimeter boards during home matches
- Opportunity to send a representative for the coin toss ceremony (as per agreement)
- Social media integration via official team handles
- Logo placement on the team’s official website
- Behind-the-scenes content creation with players
- Match tickets for home games
Deliverables depend on the specific jersey spot sponsored (front, sleeve, back, etc.). However, with customization and negotiation, brands can curate a deal aligned with their marketing objectives for maximum impact.
b. Official Partnership
Official Partnership differs slightly from Team Association. While in-person player access may be limited, it remains a strong entry point for brands seeking marketing rights and visibility.
An official partner of an IPL team typically receives:
- Category exclusivity
- Rights to use the team logo in marketing communications
- Rights to use player images in ATL & BTL campaigns
- Miniature bats with digital signatures
- Autographed full-size bats (digital signatures)
- Signed replica jerseys
- Brand logo placement on the team’s official website
- Logo inclusion in team marketing campaigns as per the sponsorship hierarchy
- Social media mentions and integrations
Official Partnership is ideal for brands focused on brand association, credibility, and marketing amplification rather than extensive on-ground activations.
How to use IPL Team Association & official Partnership?
Leveraging Team Association or Official Partnership in the Indian Premier League is about strategically using the rights you have acquired. Here’s how brands can maximize impact:
1. For Brand Awareness
- Use the team logo and player images across ATL campaigns (TV, print, outdoor).
- Integrate association messaging in digital ads and social media creatives.
- Announce the partnership with high-impact PR and launch campaigns.
2. For Premium Positioning
- Highlight the jersey logo's presence in brand communication.
- Use an HD-quality player for premium storytelling.
- Leverage category exclusivity to position your brand as the official choice in your segment.
3. For Sales & Promotions
- Run limited-period IPL-themed offers (“Official Partner of ___ Team”).
- Use signed merchandise (bats, jerseys) for consumer contests.
- Bundle tickets or meet-and-greet opportunities in loyalty programs.
4. For Engagement & Content Marketing
- Create behind-the-scenes content with players.
- Host digital contests, quizzes, or giveaways linked to match moments.
- Collaborate with team social handles for higher reach and credibility.
5. For B2B & Relationship Building
- Use match tickets and hospitality boxes for client engagement.
- Organize exclusive meet-and-greet events for partners and distributors.
- Present signed memorabilia as premium corporate gifts.
While the deliverables may be similar across brands, the strategy and activation plan determine the real ROI. A well-planned activation ensures the association translates into measurable visibility, recall, engagement, or sales.
Based on your objectives, an IPL advertising agency like Excellent Publicity can help structure, negotiate, and execute a customized campaign that maximizes returns within your budget.
4. Central Title Sponsor
Being the Title Sponsor means sponsoring the entire tournament. Becoming the Central Title Sponsor is the highest tier of association with the Indian Premier League.
Typically, it involves a long-term partnership with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). With very limited spots available, this level of sponsorship places a brand at the absolute center of one of the world’s biggest sporting events.
Brands use IPL Title sponsorship for:
- Unparalleled brand visibility and recall
- Leadership positioning within their category
- National and international recognition
- Deep integration across broadcast, digital, and on-ground assets
- Long-term brand equity growth
Conclusion
IPL advertising in 2026 represents India's most powerful sports marketing platform. Whether you're testing the waters with targeted OTT ads or seeking nationwide visibility through TV spots and team partnerships. The IPL ecosystem provides flexible, scalable options to match every budget and objective.
For brands that are hesitant about direct IPL investments, there's another strategic route as well. That is, partnering with cricket-related apps and platforms. These partnerships allow brands to tap into the cricket fever with significantly lower advertising budgets while still reaching highly engaged, cricket-passionate audiences.
As you can see, navigating the complexities of IPL advertising requires expertise. Understanding audience, optimizing ad placements, negotiating terms, and measuring real-world impact.
That's where partnering with a specialized IPL advertising agency like Excellent Publicity makes the difference. With over 14 years of experience executing campaigns for brands across all budget levels, we help you cut through the noise, maximize ROI, and ensure your investment translates into measurable business outcomes.
The IPL season is limited, but its impact can last all year.