Facebook gets 4-year exclusive digital rights for ICC matches in India

Mark Zuckerberg-led social media platform Facebook has bagged exclusive digital content rights for four years for cricket matches in India organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

As per the agreement, Facebook will carry match recaps, in-play key moments and other match and feature content, ICC said in an official statement today.

Major events during the timeframe in men’s category include the world cup in 2023, T20 world cup in 2020 and 2021, world test championship finals in 2021 and 2023, and the under-19 world cups in 2020 and 2022.

Major tournaments in women’s category include the T20 world cups in 2020 and 2022, and the world cup 2021.

The content can be shared on Facebook’s other networking platforms WhatsApp and Instagram, the statement said.   

“Throughout the competitive bid process, we received tremendous interest from a range of platforms, all of whom recognise 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 Manu Sawhney, chief executive, ICC in the statement.

During the World Cup 2019, 3.5 billion minutes of content was viewed on Facebook and YouTube of which 1.2 billion minutes of content was viewed on Facebook. 

Facebook also recorded over 10 billion impressions and over 68 million engagements during the tournament.

“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, VP and managing director, Facebook India in the statement.