What does it mean to watch the Indian Premier League in 2026? Is it still about sitting through 40 overs on a single screen? Well, I believe it is not. Watching IPL or rather, indulging in IPL has become something far more layered, consistent and even participatory?
Brands no longer just peep between intervals, or seize a stop somewhere in the background. They are now determined to be the main character. And this is not about the game, they have decided to be the main character in the consumers’ life. Three clear shifts are driving this transformation: fragmented attention across screens, the rise of immersive digital environments, and a move from visibility-led to outcome- and experience-led engagement.
And the core of this shift is based on a simple yet prominent reality—fans are no longer just watching the IPL. They are messaging, reacting, playing, and participating alongside it. And this is where the brands have started to rethink their role.
Take last week’s activation by Cadbury. Its #TheKhaasSeat campaign moved beyond traditional advertising to create a real-world fan experience reserving a dedicated stadium section for first-time IPL attendees, accessible through QR codes on packs. The initiative didn’t just promote the brand; it turned consumption into participation, allowing fans to unlock match tickets, merchandise, and meet-and-greet opportunities with players
This campaign shifts the brand from a windbag to an enabler. Here, the campaign is not asking fans to feel something rather it is allowing them to live it. The product becomes a gateway to experience, collapsing the distance between consumption and culture. This is a significant departure from traditional IPL advertising, where brands typically attach themselves to moments. Here, the brand is creating the moment.
Sarthak Shah, CEO, Sportcell, points out another interesting aspect of the new developments. He mentions how brands are moving away from a one-size-fits-all approach and instead tailoring campaigns to moments, player performances, and context. The use of AI is enabling sharper, more timely interventions, while storytelling is taking centre stage—where the product becomes part of the narrative rather than its focus.
He highlights “a noticeable shift from the brand’s purview about how they approach activations,” with some brands managing to stand out in this attention economy through more differentiated strategies. A case in point is CP Plus’ campaign featuring Shreyas Iyer, he notes, where the product appears only at the end. The narrative is emotion-led, signalling a move away from direct product marketing. As Shah puts it, the brand moves from “selling a camera” to “selling the concept of focus and trust.”
While on-ground activations and contextual references are bringing fans closer to the physical stadium, digital platforms are simultaneously creating their own parallel arenas. Spaces where fans can interact, react, and engage in real time, extending the match experience far beyond the boundaries of the venue. Yagnesh Ravi, Lead Ad Solutions, Snap Inc. explains how Snapchat is “increasingly becoming a digital stadium where fans connect with sports, creators, and brands in real time.” With “85% of Gen Z in India following the IPL” and “$860 billion in collective consumer spending,” the platform is tapping into an audience that is not just watching but constantly interacting. But what does engagement look like here? Not repetition or interruption. Its variation and integration.
Ravi points out that brands can “sequence messaging across experiences, with initial impressions as video, followed by interactive AR, and later through chat-based formats that blend naturally into how users communicate.” The focus is on “fundamentally different ways users experience a brand.” In other words, the same message is no longer delivered louder—it is delivered differently, across touchpoints that mirror user behaviour.
While platforms like Snapchat operate as a second-screen layer–capturing real-time reactions and conversations, there is another shift that has taken shape this year. Gaming environments joining the race and representing a deeper level of engagement, where user attention is not split but fully committed. At Battlegrounds Mobile India, engagement is not built around attention, it is built around immersion. Srinjoy Das, Director of Marketing and BGMI Product Management, KRAFTON India states, “Gaming is moving from being a branding surface to a high-intent engagement platform.” And this matters beacuse—in gaming, attention is not borrowed, it is owned.
“In gaming, users are fully immersed, so brands cannot interrupt, they have to integrate,” he adds. This has led to IPL integrations that are not external add-ons but core gameplay elements. Through the BGMI 4.3 update, collaborations with Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders introduced Photo Booth Points of Interest, themed items, and vehicles that players could use in gameplay, turning cricket fandom into something participatory. Fandom, hence is no longer expressed through cheering, it is enacted through play.
And what drives this engagement? “Reward-led mechanics are especially effective because they align with player motivation and progression,” Das notes. This is why gaming sees “stronger and faster action compared to passive platforms,” where engagement is often dependent on interruption.
Parallel to these shifts in experience is a fundamental shift in how IPL media is being planned. Anup Govindan, Head of Sales, Sports, JioStar explains, “Conversations that used to start with ‘how many spots’ now start with ‘what do we want to achieve.’” This is not just a semantic change—it is a strategy. Multi-screen activation is now central, with brands operating across TV, CTV, and mobile simultaneously. The result? “Up to 7X higher purchase intent with less than 10% audience overlap across screens.” So the question is no longer: how many people saw the ad? It is: what did they do after?
Even creative strategy is evolving in response. Govindan notes that “brands combining video and display formats are seeing up to 7.4x higher brand awareness compared to video-only campaigns.” Engagement is no longer built through a single format, it is constructed across a system of touchpoints.
But what do these engagement strategies actually deliver? And where is the real business impact? According to Shah, it lies less in immediate sales and more in “reduction in churn after the tournament ends,” as brands embed themselves into users’ habits over time. He points to “immediate engagement on the OTT platform” through second-screen integrations, with examples like Jio’s Dhan Dhana Dhan and Swiggy’s 6 sec flash deals. Features such as buy now buttons during the ad’s break further enable real-time action, linking engagement directly to outcomes.
What’s striking, however, is how quickly engagement itself is becoming standard. What once felt innovative: second screens, gamified integrations, real-time commerce will be now expected. The risk, then, is sameness.
In a tournament built on unpredictability, the real challenge for brands is not just to participate, but to remain distinctive within participation. With cricket being an always-on marketing stage crowded with hundreds of brands, what truly helps a brand cut through the clutter becomes critical. As IPL marketing becomes more immersive, the question is no longer who shows up, but who actually leaves a mark.
