Dubai, The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 has achieved unprecedented digital engagement milestones, surpassing the record previously held by the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022. With 6.64 billion video views recorded across ICC platforms at the midway point of the competition, it has already exceeded the 6.58 billion total video views of the entire Australian event the year prior.
According to a news release by the International Cricket Council, this year’s event has witnessed remarkable growth in terms of digital viewership. Compared to the same stage at the Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, there’s a 127% surge in video views for the India 2023 content. Moreover, it marks a staggering 314% growth from the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup that took place in England and Wales in 2019.
Placing fans at the forefront of the action, the current World Cup has revolutionized fan engagement, particularly on Meta channels. Notably, the event amassed over 4 billion views on Facebook and 2.5 billion on Instagram. The significance of Reels cannot be understated, with fan view numbers doubling the average observed for the Australia 2022 event.
The Meta Super 50 Creator Campaign, in collaboration with Meta, offered exclusive behind-the-scenes content in various local languages and styles. This initiative garnered over 100 million views, featuring highlights like Kagiso Rabada’s tips on navigating Mumbai’s train system.
Enhanced digital interfaces have encouraged deeper fan involvement, with posts on Meta channels averaging 60,000 engagements – a 33% uptick from the Australia 2022 World Cup. To date, the top-performing content is titled ‘Four Years and One Cricket World Cup apart’, boasting 69.7 million views.
Innovations like the vertical video highlights on the ICC website and the Official CWC 2023 app have resonated with fans, with over 43 million users, witnessing an impressive 50% increase in both pages per session and average session durations from last year.
Additionally, fans have shown considerable interest in the Captain’s Call, a new pre-match strategy challenge incorporating blockchain technology from partner NEAR.
Commenting on this digital achievement, ICC Head of Digital, Finn Bradshaw stated, “We are delighted that at the halfway point of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 it is already the most digitally engaged ICC event. Our commitment was to enhance the digital offering, and we’re thrilled that fans worldwide are relishing the World Cup across ICC’s channels.”
He emphasized the one-day format’s potential to foster deeper connections with fans and expressed eagerness to collaborate with partners to further elevate the digital experience in the forthcoming weeks of the tournament.