ICC-Facebook secure exclusive deal till 2023 for the subcontinent

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has cracked a deal with social media giants Facebook for what will be a partnership that will run until 2023. ICC recently released a statement announcing the same and mentioned how ICC and Facebook could leverage their platform for the growth of cricket and the connection it provides to people. Facebook Watch is already the chief broadcaster of Spain's top-flight football league - LaLiga - in India. This partnership will mainly affect the Indian subcontinent.

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ICC-Facebook: Massive Potential for the taking

Cricket surely does not have the global appeal football has but the game is slowly making strides to involve newer audiences. The recently concluded ICC 2019 Cricket World Cup clocked in a massive audience on ICC's social media pages and its partners' services. Hotstar, which was the official online broadcaster of the event in India, reported 100 million users visiting the site on the day of the India vs. Pakistan match in the World Cup. ICC reported that it got 4.6 billion views on its #CWC19 posts across all digital platforms. 

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ICC-Facebook: Exclusive services on offer

Facebook will serve Indian users exclusive content relating to all ICC events during in-match key moments, post-match recaps and exclusive premium content. Facebook emphasised on how its users interact because of cricket and how Facebook wants to enrich user interactions with features that better their experience. Although all features will not be present, post-match recaps will be available throughout the world. This deal does not include live-streaming of the matches. The ICC can also take advantage of the AR and the VR technologies that Facebook is developing. 

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ICC tournaments which will be covered on Facebook

The major tournaments that will be a part of this deal are:

• ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020
• ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020
• ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2021
• ICC World Test Championship Final 2021
• ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021
• ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2022
• ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023
• ICC World Test Championship Final 2023

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