Fan zones to influencers: ICC amplifies digital push at ICC T20 World Cup

For the first time, cricket's governing body has an AI-powered app, fan zones, social media influencers to promote the tournament

Stand-up comedian Danish Sait, a popular face on social media, has been busy posting videos and skits with cricketers participating in the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia.

He isn’t alone. Another influencer called Karishma, a radio jockey at RedFM, has also been posting funny content from Down Under. Comedians Viraj Ghelani, Shubham Gaur and Naveen Singh (known as @bihariladka on social media) are also posting content from the T20 tournament.

These influencers are part of a “Reels Squad” put in place by Meta, according to officials from the company. Meta owns social media platforms Facebook and Instagram. The “Reels Squad” is part of a tie-up between Meta and the International Cricket Council (ICC), first entered into in 2019. But ICC is giving a fillip to the tie-up now, according to executives from the cricket body.

For the first time, ICC has devised a bigger strategy to drive up the digital presence of the T20 tournament. To be sure, Disney-Star is the television and digital broadcaster of the T20 World Cup.

Media industry executives say that while traditionally, the onus of promoting cricket properties has fallen on the shoulders of the entity with broadcast rights, whether on TV or digital, this is the first time that the tournament organiser is also stepping on the gas.

The ICC, according to its executives, has at its disposal an artificial intelligence-powered app, fan zones, 360-degree digital visualisation of the tournament’s biggest sixes, updates of live fielding positions using data and round-the-clock content posted by influencers through tie-ups with companies such as Meta this year.

Influencers from India, for instance, are stationed in Australia to create funny videos, memes and reels. This is the first time that Meta has taken a “Reels Squad” from India for an ICC event.

But there is a business case for increasing the digital presence of properties such as the T20 World Cup. “Millennials and the Gen Z audiences are on digital today, and they prefer to consume content on the go,” explains Arushi Gupta, head, Influencer.in, a digital marketing platform. “Advertisers therefore will be interested in backing these properties on digital.”

For instance, time spent and audience traffic indicators are high on digital platforms carrying sports content, especially, during key tournaments such as the Indian Premier League or the T20 world cup, explains Karan Taurani, senior vice-president, research at Mumbai-based brokerage Elara Capital.

Though television is regarded as a medium of reach and attracts advertisers from mass categories such as fast-moving consumer goods, durables, telecom, automotive and e-commerce, brands in financial services, retail and online services are visible on digital.

Some of the sponsors for the T20 World Cup on both TV and digital, for instance, include names such as Dream11, Coca-Cola, Bjyu’s, Healthians and Hero Motocorp, according to media planners and buyers tracking the tournament. Disney-Star is eyeing an ad revenue of around Rs 500 crore on digital and nearly Rs 1,000 crore on television, according to sources.

The spot rate per 10 seconds on television has been pegged at around Rs 10 lakh-12 lakh for the T20 World Cup, say media planners. While cost per thousand impressions (CPM) on digital has been pegged at Rs 250-300, India matches are attracting higher rates at Rs 1,000-1,200 CPM, media planners add.

While most digital platforms convert around 10 per cent of their monthly active users (MAUs) into daily active users (DAUs) based on their content line-up, players such as Disney+ Hotstar, which offer sports content — including the IPL and T20 Cricket World Cup — have a higher conversion rate of around 15-20 per cent, experts tracking the market say.

ICC’s digital push therefore is expected to increase online traffic for the T20 event, a move that will benefit all stakeholders, they add.