India-Pakistan Asia Cup match: India vs Pakistan cricket games always make big money for TV and digital ads. But this time in the 2025 Asia Cup, the rates for Sunday’s match have gone down. Ad prices fell by about 15 to 20%, and many people in the industry say this fall happened because of the sudden ban on the real money gaming sector.
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In the past, ads for India-Pakistan games in the Asia Cup sold for around 10 to 15 lakh rupees for just ten seconds on linear TV. In ICC tournaments, the price can even touch 20 lakh for ten seconds. But this year, the rates have not touched that high. People who know the numbers say these changes are for matches that stand alone, not the ones sold inside big ad packages. Rates also change depending on which company holds the rights.
Low viewership
Executives in the ad world said the Asia Cup started on 9th September and matches with teams like UAE, Hong Kong, Bangladesh and Oman are not getting much attention from viewers. Because of this slow start, the buzz is missing. Sarfaraz Ansari, senior vice president of Mudramax, part of DDB Mudra Group, explained it in simple words.
He said normally there is always a big jump in ad rates for India-Pakistan games, but this time the start of the tournament was not strong, so the ad rates are not going like before.
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Package plan fro ads
Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI), which has the rights for all ACC matches till 2031, made a package plan for selling ads, reported Financial Express. They are selling ads for seven important matches, including India games, at one flat rate, and all non-India games are added to the package. One person close to this said the flat price for a ten-second TV spot in this package is 16 lakh rupees.
Digital ads and brand spending
In the wider market, the price for a 10-second spot during Asia Cup matches on connected TV is around 20 to 24 lakh rupees, said Vivek Menon, managing partner at NV Capital.
He also added that gaming companies were one of the biggest cricket sponsors, and with them gone a big hole is left. For digital ads, the price is different. Pre-roll ads are around 275 rupees for 10 seconds. For India matches, it is 500 rupees, and for the India-Pakistan clash, the price is higher at 750 rupees for 10 seconds.
GST changes
Executives also think that GST changes announced by the government and the start of the festival season will push big brands to spend more. Companies from mobile, FMCG, cars, insurance, paints, tyres and consumer durables will take this chance to show ads.
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Even though one big sponsor is missing for Team India, other brands will step in. Menon said the missing sponsor also caused some dent in ad rates. But Siddharth Devnani, cofounder and COO of SoCheers, said bigger brands will not stay away because “they are eager to leverage the spotlight that only an India-Pakistan clash can deliver.”
