While the opening match started with 53 lakh views in the first half of the match, when Chennai Super Kings chose to bowl after winning the toss, it moved in the range of 50 lakh to 70 lakh views for the rest of the game

Maryam Farooqui

One of the biggest sports properties -- Dream11 Indian Premier League (IPL) -- started with a bang on September 19 despite the many hurdles the league faced this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The 13th edition of IPL began with Chennai Super Kings taking on defending champions Mumbai Indians, who lost by five wickets.

While there were no viewers in the stadium in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where the league is being played, there was no dearth of cricket enthusiasts logging on to Disney+Hotstar, to catch up on one of the most awaited sports leagues.

The opening match saw a peak viewership of 8.4 million in the 14^th over of the first inning when Mumbai Indians lost their fourth wicket.

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While the opening match started with 53 lakh views in the first half of the match, when Chennai Super Kings chose to bowl after winning the toss, it moved in the range of 50 lakh to 70 lakh views for the rest of the game.

This year the video streaming platform attempted to create an in-stadia experience due to the physical distancing norms, which has kept fans away from watching live sports events at stadiums.

For this edition of IPL, fans could join a virtual community that allowed them to enjoy the matches with their friends and fellow cricket lovers real-time, while sharing selfies and videos.

In the commentary box on the screen, one could see fans wearing the t-shirt and caps of the team they were supporting while watching the opening match live on Disney+Hotstar.

Akshay Ramnath, a Mumbai resident and a supporter of Mumbai Indians, said the new feature of connecting with friends while watching IPL on Disney+Hotstar enhanced the viewing experience.

Through the Virtual Fan Box cricket enthusiasts connected with the 13^th edition of IPL.

In terms of viewership, IPL 2019 garnered 300 million viewers on Disney+Hotstar, which according to the platform was 74 percent higher than 11^th season of the cricket league.

The over the top (OTT) platform last year had set a global live streaming record with a concurrency of 12.7 million viewers during the Royal Challengers Bangalore versus Mumbai Indians match on March 28, 2019.

This record was once again broken during the final match, which was played between Chennai Super Kings and the Mumbai Indians when the platform had recorded 18.6 million concurrent viewers.

First Published on Sep 19, 2020 11:45 pm

IPL 2020: Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings opening match garners 8.4 million views on Disney+ Hotstar

While the opening match started with 53 lakh views in the first half of the match, when Chennai Super Kings chose to bowl after winning the toss, it moved in the range of 50 lakh to 70 lakh views for the rest of the game

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tags #coronavirus #cricket #IPL 2020 #Sports