The ipl food offers that pay off are built around one fact: on a match evening, half your city wants food to arrive between 7pm and 7:30pm, and nobody wants to decide what to eat during the chase. A sharing platter sold as a pre-order for a delivery slot before the first ball beats any discount you could run.
The tournament typically runs from late March into late May, with a match almost every evening and two on many weekends. That is roughly sixty evenings with a predictable spike, which is long enough to build a habit among customers and to tune the kitchen. This guide covers the menu, the timing, the offers that work, the operations behind the 7pm rush and the messages to send.
Why match evenings are different from a normal Saturday
Three things change on a match day. Orders arrive in one wave before the start rather than spread across the evening. Group size goes up, because people watch together, so the average order is larger and the menu wanted is snacks and sharing food rather than individual thalis. And there is a second, smaller wave at the innings break, around 9pm, for dessert, more snacks and drinks.
Home-team days are bigger than others. If your city's team is playing, expect a stronger spike, more group orders and a mood that carries into the next day. Away days and matches between two other teams are quieter and a good time to test something new.
Weekend double-headers bring an afternoon match at 3:30pm, which creates a lunch-into-snacks order pattern that most kitchens ignore and a few kitchens own.
Build the match-day menu
A short sharing menu, priced as bundles, sells better than the full menu with a banner on top. Four to six items are enough.
| Item | What is in it | Price range | When it sells |
|---|---|---|---|
| Match platter for 2 | Two snacks, fries or wedges, a dip, two drinks | ₹349 to ₹549 | Pre-start, couples and flatmates |
| Squad box for 4 to 6 | Four snacks, a main such as biryani or pizza, drinks | ₹899 to ₹1,499 | Pre-start, groups and families |
| Innings-break combo | Dessert plus a snack, sized for two | ₹199 to ₹299 | Second wave around 9pm |
| Build-your-own platter | Customer picks four items from a list | Fixed box price | Regulars who order every match |
| Screening pack | Platters for 10 to 50 at a per-head price | Quoted | Offices, societies, hostels |
Pick items that travel well and survive thirty minutes on a coffee table: fried snacks that stay crisp in vented packaging, wraps, pizza, biryani, momos. Avoid anything that goes soggy or needs to be eaten hot off the pan. Cost each bundle on its own and give it a margin that survives a free delivery promise, because free delivery above a minimum is the offer that groups respond to.
The guide to combo offers and bundle pricing shows how to price the platters so the average order goes up without the margin going down.
Time the campaign around the fixture list
Print the fixture list and mark your city's home games. Then run the same loop every match day.
- 4pm: the match-day message. One line about tonight's match, the platter, the delivery slot before the start and the pre-order link. Sent to customers who have opted in.
- Pre-orders for a 7pm slot. Let customers order at 4pm for delivery between 6:45pm and 7:25pm. The kitchen gets a production list by 6pm and the riders leave in one wave.
- 6pm: cut-off for the pre-start slot. After that, orders go into the regular queue with an honest delivery time.
- 8:45pm: the innings-break message. A Status post and, for regulars, a short message with the dessert combo and a 25-minute delivery promise in a tight radius.
- Next morning after a home win. A small offer for the day, tied to the result, keeps the mood going and fills a slow lunch.
Do not message every day for sixty days. Send the match-day message for home games and weekend games, use Status for the rest, and let the pre-order habit carry the quieter evenings.
IPL food offers that actually work
- Free delivery on the squad box. Groups are price-sensitive on delivery charges and not on the food. Waive the charge above ₹899 and the group order goes up.
- Pre-order pricing. ₹50 off any platter ordered before 6pm for the pre-start slot. It moves orders into the window you can serve.
- The innings-break dessert. A dessert for two at ₹199 delivered within 25 minutes to a short radius. Nobody wants to miss the second innings waiting for a rider.
- Home-win Mondays. If the home team wins on the weekend, a small offer on Monday lunch. It is cheap, it is local, and it gives the message a reason to exist.
- Season loyalty. Order on five match days and the sixth platter is free. Track it against the customer's number and tell them their count in each confirmation.
- Screening packages. Offices, hostels and housing societies put up a projector for big matches. A per-head screening pack delivered at 7pm for 20 to 50 people is the largest single order you will get all season. Quote it in the first week.
- Dine-in screening tables. If you have a screen, sell tables for the match with a platter and drinks included, booked with a deposit on WhatsApp. A QR code on the table takes refills without a server pushing through the crowd.
Match day offers do not need a cricket theme in the food. Nobody orders a dish because it is named after a bowler. They order because it arrives before the toss.
Operations: feeding the 7pm spike
The campaign fails if the food arrives in the eighth over. Treat every match evening as a planned peak.
- Prep platters in the afternoon. Marinate, portion and box the dry items by 5pm. Only the frying and assembly should happen after 6pm.
- Tight delivery zones. Shrink the radius for the pre-start slot so riders can do two drops and come back. Open the wider radius after 8pm.
- Pickup for the nearby crowd. A collection window from 6:30pm to 7:15pm takes a share of orders off the riders entirely.
- One person on the dashboard. Somebody watches incoming orders and the kitchen display, not a phone full of chats.
- Staff who know the plan. Tell the kitchen which evenings are home games, so prep is scaled for the right nights.
The general method for a concentrated rush is in the peak hour management guide, and the festive season operations guide covers what to do when the spike is bigger than the kitchen.
Three messages for the season
The match-day message, 4pm
[Home team] play tonight at 7:30. Match platter for 2 at ₹449, squad box for 4 to 6 at ₹1,099, free delivery. Pre-order by 6pm at [store link] for delivery before the first ball.
The innings break, 8:45pm
Innings break. Dessert for two and a snack, ₹199, at your door in 25 minutes within [areas]. Order now at [store link].
Screening quote, first week of the season
Hosting a match screening at the office or society? We deliver platters for 20 to 50 people at ₹[price] per head, on time for the toss. Reply "screening" for the menu, or order at [store link].
The season runs into the summer heat, so the drinks and dessert side of the menu matters more by May; the summer drinks and ice cream campaign ideas pick up there. The 52-week WhatsApp campaign calendar shows how the tournament fits between Holi and the monsoon.
One way to run match days from one place is Tezzu: the platters sit on your free store page as bundles, including build-your-own, customers pre-order for the pre-start slot and pay by UPI or card, delivery zones set the tight radius with distance-based charges and a free-delivery threshold, coupons auto-apply for pre-order pricing, and the 4pm message goes out as a WhatsApp campaign from your own number. The menu building guide covers setting up the bundles.
Set up match-day pre-orders before the first game
Put the platters on a store page, set the delivery slot and send the match-day message from your own WhatsApp number. The free trial covers the setup.
Start your free 7-day trialFrequently asked questions
What food offers work during IPL season?
Sharing platters for two and for groups priced as bundles, free delivery above a minimum for group boxes, a small discount for pre-orders placed before 6pm for delivery before the match, an innings-break dessert combo with a fast delivery promise, and per-head screening packs for offices and societies. Themed dish names add little; arrival before the start is what sells.
How do I run a match day food promotion on WhatsApp?
Send one short message around 4pm on match days to customers who have opted in, with the platter, the price, the pre-start delivery slot and a link to pre-order. Set a 6pm cut-off for that slot. Use WhatsApp Status for the innings-break combo and send a direct message only to regulars.
Should a restaurant screen matches to attract customers?
If you have the space and your regulars are cricket watchers, yes, sold as a table package with a platter and drinks and booked with a deposit. Screening rights for commercial venues vary, so check what your cable or streaming provider permits before advertising it. Without a screen, delivery platters and screening packs for other people's venues work just as well.
How can a small kitchen handle the 7pm rush on match days?
Take pre-orders for a delivery slot before the match so the kitchen has a production list by 6pm, prep and box the dry items in the afternoon, shrink the delivery radius for the pre-start wave, offer a pickup window, and keep one person on incoming orders. Scale prep for home-team and weekend games.