IPL 2014 Auction has a blockbuster debut on Starsports website

Mumbai Indians are the defending IPL champions

The IPL 2014 Auction which was streamed on starsports.com has received a tremendous response from the audience with as many as 6.8 lakh registered visits over the two days. While the player auctions that took place on February 12 and 13 was live telecast by Sony Six, Starsports had acquired to the rights to stream it online. Their decision has now been vindicated as the reports suggest a massive viewership records over the two days. Given below is the press release regarding the same.

Mumbai, February 19, 2014 – The numbers are in. And they are big. Video streaming of Pepsi IPL 2014 on starsports.com got off to a rousing start with India’s first multi-sports digital service delivering a reach comparable to what Sony Six delivered last year with the telecast of the 2013 Pepsi IPL player auction. Streaming of the action from the 2014 Pepsi IPL Player Auction on starsports.com attracted as many as 6.8 lakh visits to starsports.com over the two days. These numbers were delivered despite a 5 minute delay in the service.

Last year’s IPL auctions on Sony Six delivered a reach of 404,000 viewers with an average time spent of 25 minutes in the male SEC ABC 15+ demographic. In comparison, starsports.com reached 387,000 viewers with an average time spent of 31 minutes each on the web.

Speaking on the occasion, Ajit Mohan, EVP and Head, New Media, Star India, said, “We had decided to produce a high quality show around the auctions, with commentary and analysis from Harsha Bhogle and Sourav Ganguly. This is a vindication of our approach. The Indian consumer is evolving fast and more and more consumers want to catch action while on the move. We are convinced that this year, the mobile screen will be where the action will be for IPL.”

The highest growth in traffic was seen in the first session of the auction on 12th when marquee players like Yuvraj Singh and Kevin Pietersen were being sold. The traffic peaked at 3:00 pm on February 12th. Almost 60% of the traffic was from sports fans between the age of 18-24 years, and almost all of the traffic was in the coveted male demographics.

starsports.com is India’s first multi-sports digital service with availability across the web and mobile. Powered by live and video rights, it covers the best of world sports including major cricket tournaments, BPL, La Liga and Serie A in football, F1, hockey and tennis. This year, for the first time, all IPL matches will be available on starsports.com