The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday said that social media firm Facebook has become the exclusive digital content rights partner for its global events in the Indian sub-continent. The deal size has not been disclosed.
Facebook will carry a range of digital content, including post-match recaps, in-play key moments, and other feature content for four years, from 2019 to 2023, as part of the agreement. The package includes 12 key ICC tournaments, including the T20 World Cup 2020, World Cup 2021, World Test Championship, T20 World Cup qualifier events, and the Under-19 cricket World Cup scheduled to be held in 2020 and 2022.
“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. Throughout the competitive bidding process, we received tremendous interest from a range of platforms, all of whom recognize 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,” said ICC chief executive Manu Sawhney.
The collaboration builds on the content sharing partnership ICC forged with Facebook, along with other platforms such as Twitter and YouTube, during the 2019 World Cup. ICC claimed it has received more than 4.6 billion views on video content with #CWC19 videos across its digital and social media platforms. On Facebook alone, there were more than 1.2 billion minutes of content watched, over 10 billion impressions and more than 68 million engagements.
{{/usCountry}}The collaboration builds on the content sharing partnership ICC forged with Facebook, along with other platforms such as Twitter and YouTube, during the 2019 World Cup. ICC claimed it has received more than 4.6 billion views on video content with #CWC19 videos across its digital and social media platforms. On Facebook alone, there were more than 1.2 billion minutes of content watched, over 10 billion impressions and more than 68 million engagements.
{{/usCountry}}“With Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, 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. The future of augmented reality and virtual reality is being charted by Facebook, and we are excited about the possibility of bringing the best of our innovations to fans around the world,” said Ajit Mohan, vice-president and managing director, Facebook India.