World Cup sponsors' app downloads surge; Disney+ Hotstar is at No 1

Downloads of others like Dream11, Lendingkart also shoot up

Companies associated with the ongoing Cricket World Cup have seen a surge in downloads of their mobile apps by consumers.

Despite all the speculation about the future of Star Disney in India and whether or not it would get into a joint venture or sell out its television business, its over-the-top (OTT) platform, Disney+ Hotstar, is having a dream run after it decided to stream all the World Cup matches free to their consumers.

Hotstar, which was ranked 16th in the pecking order of the most downloaded app across all segments in India on October 1, went up to number 7 on the opening day of the World Cup on October 5, and hit the second spot on October 8 when India played its first match of the tournament, against Australia, and secured a win. But it surged to the top spot on October 11 with the India-Afghanistan match, stayed there during the much-hyped India-Pakistan match on Saturday, and continues to retain the top slot on Sunday.

The figures are based on Sensor Tower data collected from Android platforms across all app segments.

However, live cricket streaming content is limited and expensive. Hence, though Hotstar, which also streamed the Asia Cup, saw its position in downloads zoom to No 1 in the finals on September 17 (which India won), it soon dropped to No 23 on September 27. Of course, thanks to the World Cup, it is back in the top spot now.

Meanwhile, the World Cup has had a big rub-off effect on the sponsors in the online space. Cricket betting company Dream11 and startups such as PhonePe and Lendingkart face tough competition from e-commerce players to grab consumer attention. E-commerce players such as Meesho and Flipkart have announced mega sale offers in the same period (ending on October 15) and have held on to their ranks among the top 5.

Dream11, based on Sensor Tower data, saw its ranking in the top most downloaded apps across all categories surge from 31 on the first day of the tournament to No 3 during the India-Pakistan match on October 14 and went up to the second spot on October 15. The company, which faces many regulatory challenges, is running a contest alongside the live matches and is offering prizes. Before the matches began, it was at No 39 on October 1.

Lendingkart, an online lending platform for micro, small and medium enterprises, which is an associate digital sponsor of the World Cup, has also seen a sharp rise in its download rankings. It started with a rank of 395 among finance apps on the opening day, went up marginally to 375 during the India-Australia tie, but surged to 197 during India’s match with Pakistan. It continued to show an upward trend on Sunday when it was at 174.

However, PhonePe, which is advertising on both the digital and television platforms during the matches, saw its rank fall from fifth on the opening day of the World Cup to the eighth spot on the crucial India-Australia match, and again fell marginally in the game with Afghanistan. But it recovered smartly to occupy the seventh rank in the India-Pakistan match, and on Sunday moved up to the fifth place. Its ranking before the World Cup was 12th, as of September 21.