The mega event of Cricket World Cup is kicked of in style as team India got ride of Bangladesh team in first match. It will be a battle of two most favorite format of Cricket. It will T20 cricket vs The 50 over match. In clear words it will be ICC World Cup vs IPL 4. The IPL is biggest league of team India and set take place after the World Cup.

With the two biggest cricket events — the ICC World Cup 2011 and Indian Premier League (IPL) 4 — are set to take place in quick succession this year, most advertisers have to choose one over the other. Industry experts believe that IPL-4 will garner more viewership, and make more moolah. Companies are hungry to leverage the game to get more visibility but not at any cost, with most brands taking a calibrated approach.

Analysts suggest that ad spends on cricket are expected to increase by as much as 54% compared with last year, and contributing 20% to the total advertisement pie on television. Analysts also expect general-entertainment channels, films and multiplexes to lose out as 90-days of cricket fever grips Indian television.

While the World Cup, whose first match was on February 19, concludes on April 2, IPL-4 commences just 6 days after, on April 8. The World Cup is expected to generate ad revenues of around Rs700 crore, while that from IPL 4 is expected to be higher, at Rs800 crore, and could even touch Rs900 crore. Average viewership rating for IPL-4 is expected to be at 5, with the World Cup expected to fetch 3.5.

“IPL 4 is set to be bigger than the World Cup in terms of ad revenue. Ad rates for the 2011 World Cup are double that of the 2007 edition. And the rates for IPL-4 are 25-30% higherthan for IPL-3,” Emkay Global Financial Services Ltd’s media analyst Naval Seth wrote in his report last week.

Analysts say that the biggest risk for advertisers during the World Cup is the possibility of India exiting early or performing poorly, in which case viewer interest would drop, meaning bad business for advertisers. While ESPN Star Sports will air the World Cup, IPL 4 will be aired on Set Max.

Cola major PepsiCo, which is a major global advertiser for the World Cup, will advertise heavily during IPL-4 too. This makes Pepsi one of the few brands to advertise for both the cricket events.

Like Pepsi, its rival Coca Cola India too is bullish on both the cricket events over the next 90 days. “Both the ICC World Cup and IPL-4 provide us with opportunities that will help our brands reach out to the relevant target audience and amplify the core creative idea. We will be leveraging both the properties — the World Cup as well as the IPL to reach out to our target audience,” said a Coca Cola India spokesperson.