Cricket Economy: How brands are turning reach into results

Cricket in India has always existed in a category of its own. It is not merely watched, it is experienced. It brings together audiences across regions, languages and demographics in a way few other platforms can. The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup once again demonstrated this unparalleled ability to aggregate attention at scale, offering brands a rare opportunity to speak to millions at once.

For years, cricket’s sheer scale has delivered unmatched visibility, with marquee matches offering brands a powerful platform to connect with audiences at scale. As media consumption evolves and advertising strategies become more precise, this strength is only being redefined, not diminished.

Today, the conversation has moved beyond reach—which cricket continues to deliver consistently—to how effectively that reach can be harnessed for measurable impact. Encouragingly, brands are now leveraging cricket not just for visibility, but as a high-impact medium to drive deeper engagement and tangible outcomes, making its value proposition even stronger.

Cricket’s economic dominance and the fight for visibility

The numbers reinforce cricket’s centrality to India’s advertising ecosystem. According to the FICCI–EY Report 2026, the sports economy grew by 13 percent in 2025 to reach INR 223 billion, with cricket contributing 89 percent of total revenues. Media spends alone grew 20 percent to INR 112.9 billion, with digital expanding faster than television.

Within this ecosystem, competition for visibility has intensified. Brand-level data from tournament monitoring shows Coca-Cola leading with around 14 percent share of advertising on connected television, followed by Google at approximately 10 percent and Hyundai at close to 9 percent. FMCG continues to dominate with nearly 30 percent share, but technology players are rapidly increasing their presence.

According to Khushnooma Kapadia, Vice President Marketing, South Asia, Marriott International, the shift is real. “Global tournaments like the ICC T20 World Cup have brands vying for consumers’ attention, trying to capture every fleeting ad window and gain consideration and preference. The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is undoubtedly a powerful cultural moment for Indians that commanded extraordinary attention and engagement,” Kapadia explained.

Dhiraj Gupta, CTO, mFilterIt, noted this shift. “We are also seeing a clear shift in who is investing. FMCG continues to dominate with around 30 percent share, but technology players have emerged very strongly, with platforms like Google and AI-led brands becoming some of the top advertisers.”

This evolving advertiser mix signals that cricket is no longer just a legacy branding platform. It is now a competitive marketplace where both traditional and new-age brands are vying for attention.

From reach to engagement and action

As competition intensifies, brands are redefining success beyond impressions.

According to Kapadia, for Marriott, effectiveness was tied to behavioural outcomes rather than visibility alone. “Rather than chasing traditional metrics like reach alone, we prioritised engagement intensity and behavioural outcomes. Throughout the tournament, we tracked how members interacted with the programme, from bidding and redeeming points to app engagement and new member acquisition.”

Kapadia added that this translated into tangible business impact. “We have witnessed clear indicators of revenue-adjacent impact including increased search interest, stronger direct traffic and a noticeable uplift in stay demand across host markets. For us, success is ultimately measured by conversion, where cultural relevance drives not just recall but real action.”

This shift underscores a broader industry reality. Reach may open the door, but engagement determines value.

Formats evolve, but consistency remains key

As brands navigate a fragmented viewing ecosystem, their approach to formats is also evolving.

“From an advertising perspective, formats like FCT and non-FCT placements continue to coexist as part of a broader media mix, with brands experimenting across both to maintain visibility during high-traffic events. While each format serves a different purpose, the overall approach remains focused on ensuring consistent presence rather than relying on any single ad type to drive outcomes,” said an industry expert with over two decades of marketing and adtech experience, requesting anonymity.

This highlights a critical shift in strategy. Rather than betting on a single format, brands are increasingly diversifying their presence across multiple touchpoints to maximise recall and visibility.

The emphasis is no longer on isolated placements, but on sustained and consistent exposure throughout the viewing experience.

Technology reshapes consumption and measurement

The rapid evolution of technology is fundamentally altering both how audiences consume cricket and how campaigns are delivered.

Gupta pointed to the pace of change. “Sports advertising is scaling at a pace where both technology and consumption are changing fundamentals almost every few weeks. What used to take six to nine months to build now happens in a month because of AI.”

This acceleration is reflected in viewership trends. Connected TV audiences during the T20 World Cup have grown three to four times compared to previous cycles, even as mobile continues to drive scale.

However, this growth has introduced unpredictability. “In marquee matches like India–Pakistan, demand has gone beyond what platforms could even plan for, leaving inventory unutilised despite being sold out,” Gupta said.

The result is a dynamic but complex environment where scale is abundant, but precision is harder to achieve.

Fragmentation across screens and languages

The expansion of digital platforms has also led to significant fragmentation in viewership.

Hindi and English feeds account for 60 to 70 percent of total consumption, but regional feeds show sharp variations in advertiser presence. In some cases, brands are absent from certain language streams altogether, while dominating others.

This uneven distribution means that a national campaign may not deliver uniform visibility across audiences. Effectiveness now depends on how well brands navigate these nuances.

At the same time, device dynamics are reshaping value. Mobile delivers reach, but connected TV offers access to premium audiences and group viewing environments, increasing the impact of each impression.

The shift indicates that effectiveness is increasingly driven by audience quality and context rather than just scale.

The hidden inefficiencies in live sports

Despite its scale, live sports advertising is not without inefficiencies.

One of the most significant challenges is ad delivery during live streams. In a high-profile match like India–Pakistan, around 16 percent of ads were cut off before completion.

Gupta highlighted the impact. “In one of the biggest matches, nearly 16 percent of ads were cut off before completion, which directly impacts the value brands believe they are getting.”

While such interruptions are often compensated by platforms, the lack of transparent verification makes it difficult for advertisers to assess actual exposure.

Measurement gaps and the trust question

The challenges extend to measurement itself.

“With server-side ad insertion, traditional tracking simply does not work,” Gupta explained. “Most advertisers are still relying on platform-reported data without independent validation.”

This reliance creates a gap between reported performance and actual delivery. The issue is not unique to sports. Programmatic advertising, for instance, faces 30 to 35 percent invalid traffic, according to the FICCI–EY Report 2026.

Gupta summed up the concern. “I don’t think there is any advertiser in the world who would have got a report from a platform saying that I screwed up.”

The growing complexity of the ecosystem is making transparency and verification critical.

A new definition of effectiveness

The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup continues to deliver unmatched scale and cultural relevance. But the expectations from that scale are evolving.

Brands are no longer satisfied with visibility alone. They are seeking clarity on how their campaigns perform, how consistently they are delivered and whether they drive meaningful outcomes.

Cricket remains India’s most powerful advertising platform. But its future will depend on how effectively it can align reach with accountability.

The shift is already underway. From reach to results, from impressions to impact and from presence to proof.

In that transition lies the next phase of growth for sports advertising in India.