MUMBAI: IPL 13 was the much-needed break that enlivened Indian audiences from the Covid2019 pandemic-induced gloom. While the tournament was played in the UAE, it saw scores of brands advertising during the game to reach out to their audiences. This year, the league clocked over 400 billion viewing minutes and had an extremely high viewership. For the record, the IPL 13 opener saw a viewership of over 200 million-plus. Multiple brands roped in endorsers from films, sports and other categories in a bid to stand out from the clutter.   

As per Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) data, the share of ads featuring a sports celebrity went up from 14 per cent during IPL 2019 to 17 per cent during IPL 2020. The data also revealed that the IPL 13 witnessed a 3 per cent growth in the ads featuring sports stars versus Bollywood celebrities.

Aamir Khan topped the list of top ten celebrities who were featured in ads during IPL 2020. Khan registered 89,000 ad seconds, followed by MS Dhoni with 73,000 seconds and Shah Rukh Khan with 59,000 seconds.

Other celebrities who made the top ten list were Virat Kohli on the fourth spot with 45,000 seconds, trailed by Akshay Kumar with 34000 seconds. BCCI head honcho Sourav Ganguly came in sixth with 33,000 seconds, while Ranveer-Deepika ranked seventh with 27,000 seconds. Aayushmann Khurrana bagged the eighth spot with 26,000 seconds. Rishabh Pant and the Aamir Khan-Alia Bhatt pairing rounded out the top 10 with 26,000 and 25,000 seconds of ad volumes respectively.