The International Cricket Council (ICC) emblem on the ICC headquarters in Dubai.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Cricket enjoys unmatched recognition in India and the governing physique ICC, with its unprecedented digital presence within the ongoing ODI World Cup, needs to construct on that by attracting the “Gen Zs and 10-year olds” to the sport.
As a part of its global progress technique, the International Cricket Council (ICC) needs to immediately attain 300 million followers by 2032 and a bit of that may come from India. It can also be hoped {that a} substantial quantity will come from USA, the place the sport will break new floor subsequent yr when the T20 World Cup takes place.
The world physique sees large potential in changing a “casual cricket fan” to a passionate one, in addition to tapping in on a brand new viewers who has no concept in regards to the recreation.
The youth of India, similar to the remainder of the world, consumes its content material by streaming apps and a world occasion within the nation after seven years has given the ICC a super platform to work on its long-term objectives.
In collaboration with Meta, the ICC is working with as many as 50 Indian influencers who’re creating content material in 10 languages. They have been given unique entry to the gamers, each behind the scenes and within the discipline of play with an purpose of making emotional join with the compulsive social media customers.
“The World Cup has always been a big showcase for the game. Traditionally it has been the event that gets people, who are not big cricket fans or casual fans, interested towards the game,” Finn Bradshaw, Head of Digital at ICC, informed PTI.
“From a digital perspective we see it as a great opportunity to expand the fan base in India. When we talk about increasing fan base, we think a lot about younger people.
“We know how folks eat media is altering. Young individuals are utilizing lots of social media. We want to be sure that we’re not simply historically making content material. Hopefully, there might be extra followers of cricket than that had been there in the beginning of the World Cup.” But is there a need for such an aggressive digital strategy in already a cricket-crazy nation? “It is required however much less so in contrast to different nations. India is the heartbeat of world cricket and engine of cricket in lots of methods.
“If you look at consumption patterns of young people in India and other parts of the world, they are no longer watching broadcast TV,” mentioned Bradshaw, who additionally has the expertise of working with Tennis Australia.
“I would say Gen Zs are the ones we put more time to, to try and understand their way oof consuming content. I would say even the next generation after Gen Z.
“We spend lots of time excited about 10-14 year-olds. We are working with the consultants to create an interactive expertise which targets children. For us, it’s of no level doing it if we.” Gen Z refers to the generation that was born between the mid-1990s and early 2010s.
“We have boundaries and content creators have to respect that”
The influencers have been granted special access to the players who may not be as open as content creators are.
“We have boundaries and we anticipate all content material creators to respect. Some of the influencers aren’t used to having these boundaries and that’s what makes them profitable.
“These are people who don’t have a lot of experience with and things like media rights agreement but we are in a pretty sweet spot,” mentioned Bradshaw.
ICC additionally banking on digital media for 2024 World Cup in USA
Making a mark in an untapped market just like the USA might be an even bigger problem for ICC and its digital crew. It would be the first time that the World Cup might be staged on American shores.
With cricket included within the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, the World Cup subsequent yr will acquire extra significance. The ICC might be pulling all of the stops to lure a mean American who has grown up on baseball and the NFL and has no concept about cricket.
“That is a great challenge, another massive market of 330 million people, it is like India, not all places have the same culture. We are doing a lot of work researching the market, like which demographics are likely to sort of have an interest towards cricket and we can target them.
“People might be attracted to the thought of going to an occasion which is world-class and it’s coming to your metropolis. T20 is a perfect platform for that. We want to make them intrigued sufficient to come to the sport however it’s a big problem,” said Bradshaw.
The ICC is in the process of shortlisting the list of influencers and celebrities from other sports who can help them promote cricket in USA.
Cricket remains a sport with limited reach and is in need of performances showcased by teams like Afghanistan in the ODI World Cup and Nepal, who have qualified for the T20 showpiece next year.
“Having Afghanistan carry out so properly brings a lot color and power and Nepal might be enjoying subsequent yr. We want to preserve ensuring these new nations are coming by,” Bradshaw added.
