As the Lalit Modi's brainchild Indian premier League is still getting into the real action mode in the third season of this much-hyped format, advertisers have already started to worry about the expected hike in the ad-rates next season.

Notably, this week, The Sahara Group along with Rendezvous Sports purchased the Pune and Kochi franchisee for a whopping $370 million and $333 million respectively.

Advertisers are of a view that if the broadcaster increases the ad-rates, many of the advertisers may shy away from taking part. Moreover, the next year's season will be following the 2011 ICC World Cup which is going to happen in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, wherein a lot of corporate brands are expected to invest heavily.

Experts are also of a view that the 50-over format may just win over IPL next year as it is the most awaited tournament in the game of cricket. Nevertheless, IPL's broadcaster, Sony is expected to bank around Rs. 700 crore from the third season of the T20 tournament up by Rs. 200 crore as compared to the last season.