Dream11 IPL 2020, marked the return of cricket after the hiatus since March 2020. Despite the attendance and activity restrictions at the stadium, due to the pandemic, Dream11 IPL 2020 has already broken its audience records and experienced a 28% increase compared to IPL 2019 in audience. This clearly indicates that live sporting events are the most followed by fans, and the league has done a great job of keeping its audience hooked on the games.
Similar fan activity and participation was observed on the IPL title sponsor and fantasy sports app Dream11. The platform saw a 44.4% increase in traffic volume compared to the final IPL 2019 match and achieved a concurrency of more than 5.3 million users.
There are many noteworthy new features for Dream11 IPL 2020. For the first time ever, the title sponsor of IPL is a sports brand, Dream11. Fan engagement was digitally boosted by creating digital fan walls in the stadium and comment box. The four large virtual fan walls include pre-recorded videos of cheerleaders on sponsor walls. IPL teams such as Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals launched digital initiatives to connect with fans. Mumbai Indians launched ‘MI Live’ and ‘Paltan Play’ and Rajasthan Royals started a community program called ‘Super Royals’.
Vikrant Mudaliar, Dream11 Marketing Director, said: “IPL is India’s largest sporting event which is witnessing extremely high fervor from fans, and we are happy to see a similar commitment at Dream11. Fantasy sports have increasingly become an integral part of fan engagement with every IPL. Sports fans are at the center of everything we do, and we have integrated our users into all Dream11 IPL match activations. “
Speaking about the Dream11 title sponsorship, Brijesh Patel, IPL President, says: “IPL has always strived to provide a world-class sporting event for its fans. With Dream11 joining as the title sponsor of IPL 2020, we are pleased to see a digital sports brand like Dream11 increase fan engagement through fantasy sport. It is equally encouraging to see how Dream11 has integrated its users into all Dream11 IPL match activations. The match countdown, Dream11 Champion fan wall, and virtual guest box have been created to bring fans to the forefront. “
A recent report by FIFS and Kantar found that 60% of fantasy sports users claim to watch / follow sports more than before due to fantasy sports. Additionally, a user-based survey conducted by Dream11 on October 21 found that 79% of users who create their teams on Dream11 watch every IPL match as they like to closely monitor the performance of the players they have chosen on their team. Sports brands and associations have recognized that fantasy sports engage sports fans in significant ways on several levels.
