A lot has been made about Virat Kohli being given a rest by India for the Asia Cup. Broadcaster Star Sports were the chief offendees, as they were reported to have complained to the Asian Cricket Council about the superstar cricketer’s absence having a direct impact on their ability to monetise the tournament.
However, 11 matches into the tournament, it’s difficult to understand what the fuss is all about. For the majority audience, which is watching the matches on television or online, Kohli is on the screen. All the time.
During the blockbuster India versus Pakistan match on Sunday – which turned out to be another damp squib – Kohli was seen rapping and racing a motorbike, applying a pain-relief spray on himself (how apt!), jumping out of a train after stopping it by pulling the emergency chain (don’t ask why), mocking one of his teammates over a slice of pizza, and gym-ing with his teammates in another.
Okay, fine, none of these things were done in India blue and Kohli wasn’t actually playing the match with his teammates, but he was still sharing screen time with them. The India captain endorses at least five brands that have bought advertisement spots on Star Sports during the Asia Cup.
This might explain why Star India were so miffed with Kohli’s exclusion from the Indian squad. A bulk of the broadcasters’ ad inventory is sold before a tournament begins, while only about 20% to 30% is usually reserved for last-minute spot buys. If there is heightened interest around a particular game, such as an India versus Pakistan match, broadcasters can push up the prices for these spot buys, which can be sold anytime during the tournament.
According to a report in Business Standard, Star India’s advertisement revenue target for the Asia Cup was Rs 250 crore – Rs 200 crore from television and Rs 50 crore from digital. The broadcaster had reportedly sold 60%-70% of its total advertising inventory for the tournament before it started, totaling over Rs 100 crore. Star India were hoping to make the rest of their revenue target from last-minute spot buys, the report said.
However, India’s decision to rest Kohli poured cold water on Star India’s plans. The Business Standard report added that after India’s squad was announced on September 1, the broadcaster had to revise its ad rates from Rs 6 lakh per 10 seconds to anywhere between Rs 4 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.
Clearly, the five brands that Kohli endorses who also bought ad spots during the Asia Cup did not pull out because he wasn’t playing. Advertisement contracts can have exit clauses but they are rarely exercised, but for extreme situations such as, for example, a spot-fixing scandal during the tournament.
Ideally, the five brands would have liked to have seen Kohli play so that there is a recall value with viewers when their ads come up on screen. But the India captain is still the most marketable athlete in India and you can’t imagine his absence would have affected them much.
As for Star Sports, they may not reach their advertisement revenue target – if they do manage to, their marketing and advertisement team deserves a double promotion. And it’s quite possible, in today’s world, that they would have received emails from clients who were miffed with Kohli’s emission.
Worst case, Star would have to maybe offer these miffed clients a better deal during the next India tournament, which will be the West Indies series next month. It seems highly unlikely that Kohli will skip the entire series, which includes three Tests, five ODIs and three T20Is. Yes, West Indies is not Pakistan, but then Pakistan haven’t really managed to challenge India at the Asia Cup either. Yet.
If he does skip a majority of the series, there’s always other ways to garner interest, like, perhaps, getting a hugely popular former India captain to reprise his role?