This IPL season, Swiggy looks to tap over 300 million fans through Hotstar

Cricket and food can go hand-in-hand and Swiggy does not want to let this opportunity go.

The online food ordering and delivery firm has tied up with streaming service Hotstar for this Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 season. Cricket fans streaming the match on Hotstar will be able to order food without having to leave the Hotstar app during the live stream.

The T20 tournament began last week. Swiggy said that one of its offers called ‘Swiggy POP’, which provides curated single-serve meals from top restaurants across the neighbourhood, would be integrated on the Hotstar app. 

Hotstar expects to reach over 300 million viewers this year, about 50 per cent more than the previous season. Swiggy, which already has a huge user base, is looking at the partnership with Hotstar an opportunity to engage with existing customers while tapping newer ones as well.

"There is a very strong correlation between food and people who consume entertainment like cricket," said Srivats T S, vice-president, marketing at Swiggy. "This partnership places Swiggy uniquely as this enables Hotstar viewers to complete the transaction on the spot." 

During the last IPL, Swiggy was present only in 15 cities. Buoyed with $1 billion funding raised last December, the Bengaluru-based firm now has over 75,000 restaurant partners spread across more than 100 cities. The Naspers and Tencent Holdings-backed company that was last valued at $3.3 billion is not only scaling up its core business by rapidly expanding into smaller cities and towns, but is also looking at tapping into a range of newer opportunities, including delivering grocery items.

Swiggy’s food-ordering analysis from the cricketing season last year indicated an increase in online orders during the IPL period. Last year, Swiggy saw a 25 per cent rise in order numbers during the IPL season, with the highest number of orders received on the day of the finale match. During last season, Bengaluru topped the list for pizza orders while Chandigarh witnessed a 100 per cent increase in orders for traditional Punjabi dishes like kadai paneer, dal makhni and butter naan, according to Swiggy. It said chicken and mutton biryani were the most ordered items in Chennai while as in Mumbai dal khichdi was the highest ordered food item during the IPL season. 

The brand value of IPL increased 19 per cent to reach $6.3 billion in 2018 from $5.3 billion in 2017, supported by the broadcasting rights fee surging at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.9 per cent, according to a study by New York-based consultancy firm Duff & Phelps.

Last year, IPL attracted 700 million viewers in the country of which about 200 million (30 per cent) watched the sports through Hotstar app. This year, Hotstar is also rolling out a first-ever social cricket-watching experience, which will provide viewers an opportunity to invite, chat and compete with their friends and family. 

Launched in early 2015, Hotstar has attracted more than 350 million followers on the back of a highly evolved video streaming technology. The platform has more than 100,000 hours of drama and movies in 18 languages, and coverage of almost every major global sporting event.