Everyone in the world knows India is crazy about Cricket. Today starts a new season of cricket fever with the beginning of the Indian Premier League. To take the enjoyment to the next level, Times Internet, the global internet, mobile and audio rights partner for the IPL, has announced a renewal of its partnership with YouTube for 2013 and 2014.
As part of the deal, YouTube will have exclusive live-streaming rights for desktop web viewing (with a five-minute delay in India) and non-exclusive rights for mobile viewing through the 2013 and 2014 tournaments.
YouTube has also secured the non-exclusive rights for mobile viewing for the 2013 and 2014 tournaments. Cricket fans around the world except US and Canada will be able to enjoy the entire streaming, highlight clips, etc. on the dedicated YouTube channel. Additionally, the live streaming of IPL 6 matches would also happen on Box TV.
The association of Google and Times Internet has gone into its fourth year and according to John Vamvakitis, Director of Sports Content Partnership, YouTube APAC the tech giant is going to integrate Google+ Hangouts with IPL6. For the first time stars from the cricketing world would be participating in Google+ Hangouts to discuss and share their match analysis and inside scoop. This would all happen between the innings.
Apart from these, fans of IPL could follow Cricket Club on Google+ to get the exciting updates, pre-match build up and other interesting stuff from the world of cricket. Similarly, Box TV will be providing viewers relevant match data and content via a “Match Tracker” that would integrate the social networks like Facebook and Twitter.
Satyan Gajwani, CEO, Times Internet, said, “IPL has been a big driver for us in steadily engaging and growing our young sports savvy users over the last two years. We saw a 43 per cent growth in audience base just last year on IPL online. Our partnership with YouTube is strategic in building supplementary touch points with these audiences and we’re happy to renew our association with YouTube.”
Well, IPL kicks off today and I am sure the stakes this year are higher and we’ll see some very interesting numbers soon.
