India has won the T-20 Cricket World Cup after a gap of 13 years, a development that is likely to further boost revenue for the sport that already attracts millions of dollars in advertising.
Disney Star, this season’s official media rights holder of the shortened, fast-paced form of cricket, was expecting to rake in as much as 180 billion rupees ($2.2 billion) in advertising from the sport, according to the Mint newspaper.
The game, started about a decade ago, lasts about three hours and marries US-style marketing with Bollywood’s glitz. Earlier in the tournament, a 10 second advertising slot in the game between India and its neighbor Pakistan was expected to fetch about 2 million rupees on average.
A Super Bowl ad reportedly costs $6.5 million for 30 seconds, while charges for advertising in the UK during the 2022 football World Cup were about £400,000 ($511,000) for 30 seconds, Bloomberg reported.
This year’s four-week, 20-team tournament ended on Sunday, with matches played in the US for the first time.
“The game was historic,” India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a post X after the intensely contested final between India and South Africa that saw acrobatic catches change the result in the dying moments of the game
The victory was bitter sweet for millions of Indian fans. Two of the game’s legends, India skipper Rohit Sharma and master batter Virat Kohli, announced their retirement from the shortened form of the game.
“This was my last T20 World Cup and this is exactly what we wanted to achieve,” 35-year-old Kohli told host broadcasters Star Sports after bagging the Player of The Match award, Press Trust of India reported. “This is an amazing game.”
