IPL 2026 ad volumes rise 4 per cent despite fewer advertisers: TAM

MUMBAI: The IPL may have bowled fewer advertisers onto the pitch this year, but the commercial scoreboard still flashed a bigger total. Advertisers may have thinned out, but ad volumes refused to play a defensive innings. The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 delivered a 4 per cent rise in average ad volume per channel per match compared with IPL 2025, signalling stronger inventory utilisation despite a notable decline in the number of advertisers and brands, according to a TAM Sports report.

Based on an analysis of all 74 live matches across 25 television channels and 12 Connected TV (CTV) language feeds, the study found that IPL 2026 recorded an indexed ad volume growth of 104.9 compared with 100.5 in IPL 2025 and 100 in IPL 2024. Overall ad volumes were also 5 per cent higher than IPL 2024.

The growth was not evenly spread across the tournament. While most stages recorded higher ad volumes than the previous season, the first play-off match emerged as the standout performer, posting nearly 40 per cent growth over the corresponding fixture in IPL 2025. Only the Eliminator saw a decline.

Interestingly, the season achieved this growth with fewer participants in the advertising ecosystem. The number of categories dropped from more than 70 in IPL 2025 to over 60 in IPL 2026. Advertisers fell from more than 110 to over 65, while the number of brands shrank from over 200 to more than 125.

Less clutter, however, translated into greater visibility.

Services and food & beverages dominated the advertising mix on Linear TV, each accounting for 28 per cent of total ad volumes. Auto followed with 10 per cent, while BFSI and durables contributed 9 per cent and 7 per cent respectively. On CTV, services remained the largest sector at 19 per cent, followed by auto at 13 per cent and food & beverages at 9 per cent.

Among categories, e-commerce other services topped both platforms. On Linear TV, it commanded a 14 per cent share, followed by mouth fresheners at 13 per cent, two-wheelers at 6 per cent, and energy drinks and paints at 5 per cent each. On CTV, e-commerce other services led with 11 per cent, ahead of cars at 8 per cent and smartphones at 6 per cent.

Google emerged as the undisputed advertising heavyweight of IPL 2026. The tech giant topped the advertiser rankings on both Linear TV and CTV, accounting for 11 per cent and 13 per cent of ad volumes respectively. Reliance Consumer Products and Havells India also featured among the top advertisers across both platforms.

At the brand level, Google Search Engine led the charts on Linear TV and CTV with a 7 per cent share. It was followed by Vimal Elaichi Pan Masala, Campa Energy Drink, AMFI and Google Gemini on television, while Google Gemini, Maruti Suzuki e Vitara, Tata Sierra and RuPay Credit Card rounded out the top five on CTV.

The report also highlighted the growing divergence between traditional television and connected television advertising. CTV recorded more than 35 exclusive categories and over 60 exclusive advertisers, compared with over 20 categories and more than 30 advertisers unique to Linear TV.

Credit cards, adhesives and fast-food outlets were among the top exclusive CTV categories, while chocolates, internet service providers and cement remained unique to Linear TV.

The advertiser mix also continued to evolve. IPL 2026 introduced more than 15 new categories compared with the previous season, with chocolates, wires and cables, auto rental services, televisions and laptops emerging as the biggest new entrants. At the same time, categories such as gaming, real estate, lubricants, furniture and travel advertising disappeared from the tournament.

When it came to commercial break strategy, brevity won the battle. Ads shorter than 10 seconds accounted for 54 per cent of all insertions, making them the preferred format. Spots between 11 and 20 seconds represented 39 per cent, while longer 20-40 second commercials made up 6 per cent, slightly higher than the previous season.

The findings suggest that while the advertiser roster may have become leaner, brands that stayed in the game played a more aggressive innings. For broadcasters, IPL 2026 proved that fewer logos on screen do not necessarily mean fewer advertising runs on the board.