Facebook wins digital content rights excluding 'live streaming' for ICC global events in India

Last year, Star India acquired digital and TV rights to live-stream and broadcast all of Indian cricket team's matches globally. Facebook will carry a range of digital content across four years including match recaps, in-play key moments and other match and feature content

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Facebook wins digital content rights excluding 'live streaming' for ICC global events in India

Facebook has won the exclusive digital content rights for ICC global events in the Indian sub-continent and will also carry post match recaps throughout the rest of the world through to 2023. Facebook won’t be live streaming the matches in any market.

Last year, Star India acquired digital and TV rights to live-stream and broadcast all of Indian cricket team’s matches globally for a sum of $944 million.

Facebook will carry a range of digital content across four years including match recaps, in-play key moments and other match and feature content, giving the hundreds of millions of cricket fans in the region the opportunity to deepen their engagement with the sport with more content available than ever before.

In 2017, the company bid $600 million for online streaming rights of IPL, a popular cricket tournament in India, for a period of five years. It lost the bid to Star India, which operates Hotstar. Last year, the company tested the waters after it acquired streaming rights to show La Liga games in India.

ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhney said, “We are delighted to welcome Facebook to the global cricket family for this multi-year, multi-market partnership which is a first for our sport. The combination of one of the world’s most watched sports with one of the world’s largest platforms is exciting for the future of our game.

“The record-breaking growth in digital consumption at this summer’s ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup demonstrated the continued power of cricket to connect and engage more deeply with diverse audiences around the world.

“Throughout the competitive bid process, we received tremendous interest from a range of platforms, all of whom recognise the phenomenal reach of cricket. In Facebook, we have a genuine partner who shares in our ambition to continue to grow and deepen engagement with cricket fans globally using its platforms.”

Ajit Mohan, VP and Managing Director Facebook India, said, “We are excited to partner with the ICC to bring the most exciting moments in cricket to Facebook Watch and to chart the next stage of technology led transformation in cricket.

“With Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, the ICC has an exceptional opportunity to leverage our family of apps to serve current sports fans as well as bring in an entirely new generation of fans. Every day, people come to our platforms to talk about, and form friendships around, cricket. With this partnership, we will be able to serve these fans with the kind of premium content that can ignite new conversations, new connections and new followership.

“The future of AR and VR is being charted by Facebook and we are excited about the possibility of bringing the best of our innovations to fans around the world.”

The package includes the following events across the 2019-2023 cycle:

ICC Major Global Events:

ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020

ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020

ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2021

ICC World Test Championship Final 2021

ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021

ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2022

ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023

ICC World Test Championship Final 2023

ICC Men’s Qualifying Events:

ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019

ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2022

Other ICC Events:

ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2020

ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2022

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Facebook live streaming ICC global events in India
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