How Celebrity Cricket League has been marrying India’s 2 biggest passions for 2 decades

Celebrity Cricket League (CCL) 2023 has revamped itself to thrill cricket and movie fans alike in its new season that is ‘Reimagined, Refreshing, and Reloaded!’ This season seeks to offer More Cricket, More Celebrities, and More Fun for the visitors with the new format of T20 with two innings of 10 overs per team. The matches are currently being aired live and exclusively across the Zee TV network on six different channels.

Adgully spoke with Vishnu Vardhan Induri, Co-Founder, Celebrity Cricket League (CCL), to know more about the journey of CCL, pioneering the T20 format of cricket much before the Indian Premier League came into being, brand associations, the road ahead, and more.

How did you come up with the idea of beginning CCL?

I was always passionate about Media and Entertainment, besides we did a charity fundraiser for the Telugu Artists Association in 2003, 2007, and 2010. When we did it, the only way to raise more money was through a cricket event because the duration is more. We conducted three games of T20 matches way back in 2003, when there was no T20. It was a 12-hour live telecast and was a huge success.

All three editions of this cricket event were successful. After watching the Indian Premier League (IPL), we got the structure and we launched Celebrity Cricket League (CCL) bringing eight film industries together and it paid off rich dividends.

Today, CCL has become a national league. What are your visions for this event?

Initially, our broadcast plan was limited to a couple of channels, now 9 channels are broadcasting it, so the reach is definitely high across the country. Moreover, we have added more brand ambassadors this season. Earlier, we used to reach the audience via print media, ads, and media platforms. Now, social media has become a major platform to increase our reach. The stars who are participating in the league have huge fan following and huge social media followers. Each fan association has huge social media followers, so it has become a new way of promoting the brand and that’s how CCL is reaching more audiences than earlier.

In India, sports is becoming a serious business. When we had started CCL, there was only IPL. People had said that CCL won’t survive, and yet over 20 years later, we are still going strong. The revenue model and the value of the property have been growing year on year.

How is this year’s CCL different from previous editions?

We always try to innovate ourselves. We came up with the format of 2 innings, which has never been played anywhere in the world. This has generated a sense of excitement among the fans. Moreoverm there have been more twists and turns in the league. This is definitely a new chapter in CCL’s journey.

What were you involved in before starting the CCL?

I was an entrepreneur. After doing my Masters in Computer Science from the US, I begin my IT company, which I sold off in 2007. I then got into the Entertainment space. When I was working for the IT industry, I used to run my own social media company under the name of Social Media Pvt Ltd back then when no one knew about Social Media in 2000. My company had a website called Bharatstudent.com, which connected students globally and which was more of a Facebook for students when there was no Facebook back then.

What are the strategies behind getting brands like A23 and Parle as sponsors for CCL?

Sponsorship depends on what we deliver to them. If the brand is coming back to you every year, it means that they trust us on what we deliver to them. Parle has been associated with CCL for the 6th time as our title sponsor. A23, being a gaming platform, believes that CCL can deliver what they want and we are very proud to associate with these brands.

Could you shed some light on your marketing and distribution strategies?

If we consider OTT, there is no bigger platform in the world than YouTube. We are streaming CCL live on YouTube to reach larger audiences. In the last 2 games, we received a viewership of over 1.5 million. We also have 9 channels broadcasting the matches, which is also giving us a huge reach.

How has the audience response been to CCL?

Audiences or consumers don’t consider CCL as a separate league, they are considering it as their own. Because of the immense love they have for their favourite stars, they are feeling connected to the league and consider this as their own property. That’s the beauty of CCL. Next, we planning to add 2 more leagues and this is going to expand year on year.