Is cricket the next big ad opportunity in America?

Cricket fans will remember the T20 Cricket World Cup in June this year for India’s victory, which claimed its third world title after a 13-year dry spell.

But for media professionals, it was not only entertaining — it was groundbreaking. For the first time, World Cup games were played in the United States.

More than 190,000 fans flocked to three stadia, US Today reports, and tens of thousands attended fan parks in New York, Seattle and Dallas.

Streaming numbers for the live World Cup, as well as highlights and key moments, leapt massively. In the U.S., World Cup organizer the ICC reported that ahead of the final weekend, 2.7 million people in the U.S. had interacted with its app and website.

That is up 370% on the previous World Cup in 2022 and, perhaps most encouraging for the sport, 52% of those interacting in the U.S. were new customers. That means the World Cup, on the ICC website and app alone, brought in well over a million potential new fans to the sport.

Whether through sponsorship or advertising, this represents an opportunity for brands to reach a new audience that may not be as interested in American sports as the wider U.S. population.

Gaurav Chand, EVP and CMO at Cognizant, tells The Current that the opportunity cricket offers is not only to support a much-loved game, but also to forge connections between diverse communities of people who originate from countries where cricket is already a huge sport.

“Our sponsorships are aligned to our goals of showcasing the parallels between sport and technology and increasing diversity and inclusion in both arenas, a great fit with cricket in America with its diverse fan base,” Chand said. “In addition, C-level executives of both our existing client base and potential customers hail from traditionally popular cricketing nations such as India, England and Australia.”

New opportunity to connect with U.S. fans

America’s interest in cricket also comes as the Cognizant Major League Cricket (MLC) tournament kicks off its second T20 championship in July. Lead sponsor Cognizant credits holding a selection of T20 World Cup games in the U.S. as giving the sport a major boost in the country.

Indeed, the World Cup’s American matches delivered the most in-demand advertising opportunities of the tournament as rivals India and Pakistan faced each other in Long Island. Bloomberg reports that adverts for the game were set to reach a record $48,000 for a 10-second slot. This is roughly 25% higher than previous top games.

The latest sponsor to join the MLC, financial services business Remitly, summed up the media opportunity as one where advertisers can be a part of a new conversation for sports fans in the U.S.

  “Cricket is one of the many ways our customers stay connected with loved ones, no matter where they are in the world,” said Remitly Chief Business Officer Pankaj Sharma as the new partnership was announced.  

India posts huge streaming numbers

In India, cricket streaming is already a major opportunity for advertisers. Although early games in the tournament saw a slight dip in on-demand viewing, Disney+ Hotstar, which owns linear TV rights, revealed that the final saw a surge to 53 million concurrent viewings.

Analysts at Omdia estimate each India Premier League (IPL) game’s broadcast right is worth $16 million, slightly ahead of the $15.7 million for an English Premier League soccer game.

The reason for the valuation is the huge audience cricket delivers. For this year’s tournament, Hotstar reported a core audience of 44 million. With cricket lasting longer than most sports, even with shorter T20 matches, this racked up more than 18 billion viewer minutes, Disney claimed, thanks to watching times increasing by 15% compared to the 2023 competition.

The real star in this year’s IPL was streaming. Viacom-owned JioCinema, which owns streaming rights, reported more than 111 million streamers on the first day alone, up 51% on the year before. Across this year’s tournament, the streaming service racked up 59 million viewers, amounting to 660 million minutes of watch time.

Cricket’s dominance in the Indian market may not yet reflect an international reach beyond traditional cricket-loving geographies. However, 4 of the 6 Cognizant MLC teams are owned by IPL team owners. This suggests a belief the game will grow in popularity in the U.S., particularly among audiences brought up in cricket-loving nations such as India, England and Australia.

Indeed, the rise of live sports on streaming platforms could further fuel America’s interest and place cricket in front of audiences that may not have considered watching the sport before.