SPORTS DESK
ISLAMABAD:-The International Cricket Council (ICC) has been recognised for two groundbreaking digital initiatives at the prestigious Leaders in Sports Awards 2019. The ICC’s coverage of the record-breaking ICC Women’s T20 World Cup and the bold collaboration with Wimbledon for the One Day in July video both took home awards.
With its coverage of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, the ICC set out to attract new fans in Australia and around the world, bring people closer than ever before and create a digital and broadcast experience like no other to elevate our sport’s female superstars to a stage of their own. With its coverage of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, the ICC set out to attract new fans in Australia and around the world, bring people closer than ever before and create a digital and broadcast experience like no other to elevate our sport’s female superstars to a stage of their own.
New stars were made for millions of young girls and boys around the world. Then, on the 8th March – International Women’s Day 2020 – 86,174 fans packed into the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground to witness history being made in what was not just a life changing moment in women’s cricket, but in women’s sport. The results speak for themselves. The event was the most successful women’s cricket tournament ever.
The results of the coverage included:
1.1b billion video views on ICC platforms, which was a 20x increase on the last Women’s T20 World Cup in 2018
90 million global television viewers and over 5.4 billion minutes in India alone
A 131% increase in global unique broadcast audience from the 2018 event and a 103% increase in overall global viewing numbers
12 billion sponsor impressions making it the most successful women’s ICC tournament ever
The One Day in July in collaboration with Wimbledon was a unique collaborative approach between two major global sporting bodies, capturing the drama, emotion, and action from one of sport's most memorable days. The video reached 5.9M people across the ICC’s digital platforms and was watched more than 4.3M times.
ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhney said: “We are delighted to receive the prestigious Leaders in Sports Award for two initiatives that showcase how cricket connects with the world. This is simply testimony to the fact that cricket truly has the power to engage more deeply with diverse audiences across the globe. It is proof that our commitment to the game and our journey of digital transformation has begun well and is on the right track.”
At a time when COVID-19 has severely impacted live sports, the ICC’s channels have gone from strength to strength, in being able to engage with cricket fans across the world in the first half of 2020.
Some of the highlights include:
A staggering 1.65 billion video views in the first half of 2020, ensuring the ICC channel topped the rankings in terms of video consumption among leading sporting bodies on Facebook
Across the April-June lockdown period, overall interactions on the ICC Facebook page were more than two and a half times higher than other leading leagues and sports bodies across the world
Daily video consumption on Facebook jumped from 3 million minutes viewed to 15 million minutes per day (outside of the ICC live events)
