Exclusive | ESPNcricinfo scores big with T20 in the US: Ramesh Kumar

That a T20 event of a stature of world championship should generate phenomenal interest in India is a given, since India is the largest market for cricket sport anywhere in the world. What is surprising is when a similar interest is generated in a country which does not play cricket and whose favourite sport is baseball. You guessed it right, we are talking about USA.

 

For the first time ever, ESPNcricinfo coverage and popularity of the recently concluded ICC T20 World Cup has created a record. The US-based cricket fans constituted ESPNcricinfo’s second-biggest audience globally for the tournament (trailing only India), with nearly 17 % of global page views and nearly 19 % of all minutes spent during the tournament, across all devices, coming from the US. Fans in the US also accessed more videos per day on average (71,171) than any other territory worldwide. Moreover for the first time since the tournament started in 2003, US-based cricket fans have been able to watch the entire World Twenty20 Championship live (and on-demand) at no additional cost to fans, courtesy of ESPN3 -- the sports media company’s multi-screen broadband sports network in the US.

 

Speaking to Adgully on the demand for the event in the US, Ramesh Kumar, Head of ESPNcricinfo & Digital Media, India said, “Interest levels in cricket in the US have been growing for some time, with the significant immigrant and diaspora populations from traditionally cricket-loving regions (India, Pakistan, Australia, UK, Caribbean) in the country. For ESPNcricinfo.com we generally see that our top three US states by visitors are California, New York and Texas. What has changed, and something which I think ESPNcricinfo has played a role in, is the availability (and awareness of that availability) of top-level coverage of the sport in the market.”

 

ESPNcricinfo has been a leader in the online cricket space in US and Canada with a monthly unique user base of close to 3.5 million users from the region. For ESPN, it is just a case of doing what it has always tried to do - connect the passionate fans with the game they love. “Our offering around the just-ended T20 World Championships was extensive, very high-quality and multi-platform. Interest is definitely rising, and we expect that to continue,” adds Kumar.

 

Globally too, via all devices and platforms, ESPNcricinfo has posted its best-ever audiences for the Twenty20 format of the game - with fans logging more than 800 million page views and spending 2.3 billion total minutes. These figures represent a 215% and 323% increase (respectively) compared to the 2010 edition of the tournament.  Additionally, throughout the tournament, ESPNcricinfo had an average minute audience of almost 80,000 people across computers, mobile web, and mobile apps – meaning that during any given minute of the 18 day tournament, an average of 80,000 people were engaging with ESPNcricinfo. The average minute audience is four times greater than the 2010 tournament. Fans also watched 164,000 videos on average per day on ESPNcricinfo during the tournament (not counting streaming video which is available in some regions).  The most dynamic growth in audience and engagement for ESPNcricinfo since the 2010 tournament has come on mobile devices. Globally, the brand saw 678% growth in total page views (to more than 445 million) and a staggering 981% growth in total minutes (to nearly 855 million minutes) via mobile devices, compared to the tournament two years ago. 

 

The advertisers too have responded well.  This is because the ESPNcricinfo brand is trusted, respected, and is known the world over. In that sense ESPN has a bit of an advantage in this area, also because its ad sales operation are organised to be both global and local.  “Our teams based in New York, Bangalore, London and Sydney are able to work with the very best digital sales infrastructure in the world, and have conceived numerous solutions alongside not just this tournament  but past tournaments as well.  We can bring great scale and targeting, and can tap into an unparalleled editorial knowledge,” says Kumar. 

 

As for plans going forward, Kumar said, “We are focused on the same objective the world over: serving cricket fans with the very best content, on whatever device they have, wherever they are. That is the same approach whether it is in Mumbai, Sydney, Kingston or New York. We will continue to work hard to deliver for the existing fans of the sport, and expand the exposure and connection to the game to new fans.”  ESPNcricinfo plans to present more offerings that are focused on strong features & editorial products in the US market and will also be streaming live the CLT20 event.

 

As for other tournaments, ESPNcricinfo’s mission is to serve cricket fans with the best content and coverage and use leading technology to do that. It looks forward to deliver great coverage of any major tournaments, and all the major competitions through the year.   Not just India and the US, ESPNcricinfo is focused on the global game of cricket and connecting fans, wherever they are. “We continue to see dynamic growth for the service, across devices, particularly in the UK, US, Caribbean, South Africa, Australia, the Indian sub-continent and the Caribbean,” says Kumar.