ICC inks exclusive digital content partnership with Facebook till 2023

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday entered into a partnership with Facebook which will give Facebook the exclusive digital content rights partner for ICC global events in the Indian sub-continent. As part of the deal reached between the two sides, Facebook will also carry post-match recaps throughout the rest of the world through to 2023.

The partnership between ICC and Facebook comes in the wake of the unprecedented digital success of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019, which showed that cricket is still one of the most-watched sports in world as the quadrennial event netted 4.6 billion #CWC19 video views across digital and social media platforms of the world's cricket governing body. The ICC will allow Facebook to carry a range of digital content till 2023 including match recaps, in-play key moments and other match and feature content.

ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhney said: “We are delighted to welcome Facebook to the global cricket family for this multi-year, multi-market partnership which is a first for our sport. The combination of one of the world’s most watched sports with one of the world’s largest platforms is exciting for the future of our game.

“We are delighted to welcome Facebook to the global cricket family for this multi-year, multi-market partnership. We are delighted to welcome Facebook to the global cricket family for this multi-year, multi-market partnership. The record-breaking growth in digital consumption at this summer’s ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup demonstrated the continued power of cricket to connect and engage more deeply with diverse audiences around the world," he added.

“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," noted Sawhney.

Ajit Mohan, VP and Managing Director Facebook India said, “We are excited to partner with the ICC to bring the most exciting moments in cricket to Facebook Watch and to chart the next stage of technology-led transformation in cricket. With Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, the ICC has an exceptional opportunity to leverage our family of apps to serve current sports fans as well as bring in an entirely new generation of fans. Every day, people come to our platforms to talk about, and form friendships around, cricket. With this partnership, we will be able to serve these fans with the kind of premium content that can ignite new conversations, new connections and new followership."
 
The package includes the following events across the 2019-2023 cycle:

ICC Major Global Events

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

ICC Men’s Qualifying Events:

ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019
ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2022

Other ICC Events:

ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2020
ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2022