New Delhi: As part of the momentous return of live cricket in 2020, ESPNcricinfo launched a strategic line-up of over 25 original shows, including Whirlpool Adaptable Player of the Day, BasicFirst Solve It with Aakash Chopra, Dell Stunning Moments of the Day, and many more to keep audiences hooked to the tournament more than ever before. This is the most by any non-live event digital platform for the IPL, ensuring fans experience IPL 2020 beyond just the LIVE event and the match period. Bringing a new dimension to analyze news, games, and issues around the IPL the shows leveraged extensive in-house data and statistics to present content that is unique, intelligent yet easy to consume for the cricket fans. This further strengthens ESPNcricnfo’s industry dominance as a wholesome digital destination uniting fans of the sport and general audiences alike, making it one of the biggest single-sport websites in the world.
Further reiterating its commitment to offering the best of cricketing expertise, ESPNcricinfo created a star-studded entourage comprising the biggest names from the world of cricket and beyond to drive the shows and keep audiences informed and entertained. Personalities such as Gautam Gambhir, Ian Bishop, Tom Moody, Aakash Chopra, Deep Dasgupta, Ajit Agarkar, and Sanjay Manjrekar, actor/anchor and a cricket fan – Aparshakti Khurana, renowned anchor Cyrus Broacha, and in-house presenters Alexis Nunes and Raunak Kapoor brought the platform’s shows alive.
Marking the return of cricket, ESPNcricinfo’s superiority in engaging with millions of fans ensured brands across the spectrum, ranging from e-commerce to telecom, partner with the platform in strengthening their reach to a creative mix of mass audiences. Sponsor support was garnered from brands such as Whirlpool, Dell, My11Circle, KhataBook, and BasicFirst, Apple, One Plus, Amazon, and more – all of which are focused on scaling their audience reach through the medium of the sport by creating high-value content.
Ramesh Kumar, Vice President, Head of ESPN India and South Asia said, “We are committed to delivering wholesome cricket news, information, compelling match coverage and surround content, all beyond just scores for our fans. Our line-up of premium sponsors this season is a testimony of our credibility to offer well-rounded programming for the fans and value generation for our partner brands, thereby underlining our focus on being scores se lot more!”
Also commenting on the roster of premium sponsors, Akshaya Kolhe, Sales Head, ESPN South Asia said, “Our line-up of over 40 premium sponsors across categories such as e-commerce, consumer durables, electronics, fantasy sports, telecom, Edtech, and even startups, with brands such as Apple, Amazon, Whirlpool, Dell, My11Circle and more, is a reflection of our pursuit of collaborating with advertisers to deliver the best possible content experiences to our fans.”
He further adds, “While the global pandemic did change the way we operate, we did not let it hinder our efficiency in bettering our content and providing our sponsors with maximum visibility and room to grow. With IPL just being the off-set, we are focused on sustaining the value generation momentum for our audiences and advertisers through upcoming marquee properties such as India vs. Australia series, Big Bash League, and more.”
An insight into the comprehensive content offering delivered by ESPNcricinfo for IPL 2020
Whirlpool presents ESPNcricinfo T20 Time: Out powered by Dell is the flagship show with pre-match and post-match analysis, the coverage also promises to push the boundaries beyond the regular. The Whirlpool Adaptable Player of the Day is a daily post-match show where an ESPNcricinfo anchor and a cricket expert dissect the performance of that one player who has been the most adaptable across various situations while dishing outperformance to win the match. Dell Stunning Moments of the Day is where the turning points of every match are talked about, and how they contributed to the eventual outcome. My11Circle Fantasy Pick is a daily show across the IPL for fantasy league users that comprises many valuable and insightful segments such as Pro Tip and Value Pick from the experts. In the show ‘Hafte ka KhataBook’ in association with KhataBook, presenter Aparshakti will look at the return of investments made by owners or franchises on players, and whether this return on investment has been good or bad. Similarly, BasicFirst Marksheet of the Match is a custom post-match show that will assess the winning team’s performance through an interesting statistical analysis. In BasicFirst Solve It with Aakash Chopra, ESPNcricinfo has created an ecosystem of fun, enriching videos that bring the basics of cricket to users, fans, and students of the game. ESPNcricinfo Run order is a fan-centric show that promises to play on the light and humorous discussions around some of the most burning issues of IPL. Anchor and actor Cyrus Broacha will host the show.
The other noteworthy ESPNcricinfo original shows are:
- Polite Enquiries, one of ESPNcricinfo’s oldest signature shows that invites questions from viewers and has two experts responding
- Fact or Myth is a series of to-camera pieces analyzing whether various IPL truisms are indeed fact or are myths
- Picks of the Week is where talent and other members pick the moment of the week, the player of the week, and the surprise of the week
- The Chatter is a weekly show where an anchor or a comedian reacts to cricketers’ social media posts
- Hot Takes shares a quick take on pressing moments from the game.
Think You Know Yourself, 25 Questions, Team Report Cards, Social Story, Mute Me, Superstats Podium, What’s the Deal, Stats Guru, Live Quiz are a few more to engage and entertain fans.
