Pepsi IPL on starsports.com set to break all records

Mumbai: The video streaming of Pepsi IPL 2014 on starsports.com, India’s first multi-sports digital service, has garnered unprecedented traction attracting more than a million unique visitors every day during the first week of the tournament. During the period, starsports.com attracted around 47 lakh unique visitors across web and mobile delivering just more than a crore of consumer visits. This is unprecedented in the history of Pepsi IPL. The huge deliveries follow a high decibel marketing campaign by starsports.com to promote the video streaming of Pepsi IPL.

150 million minutes of video were consumed by users during the first 7 matches played in the on-going Pepsi IPL, with an average of more than 32 minutes per match. Consumption on mobile has shot up since the beginning of the tournament and now stands at 42 % of the overall traffic. Almost 85 % of the viewer base is in the 18-24 age group with the top 8 metro cities contributing 60% of the overall traffic. Female traffic saw a significant surge contributing 27% of the overall audience.

Speaking on the occasion, Ajit Mohan, EVP and Head, New Media, Star India, said, “IPL 2014 is perhaps a turning point for sports consumption. For the first time, online consumption of sports is becoming about video, video, and video. And, our investment in creating a world class backbone for video delivery is showing up as a significant improvement in the experience for sports fans, especially on a mobile screen.”

Since its launch in December 2012, starsports.com has made large scale investments to build a video infrastructure customized for India, where the Internet experience is characterized by a proliferation of mobile devices and where a large number of consumers still have access to low bandwidth. In addition, for IPL, the company has leveraged its television infrastructure to deliver mid-rolls (advertisements in the middle of the overs) in addition to the already prevalent pre-rolls (advertisements which roll before the start of the video). Delivering mid-rolls seamlessly has been a significant challenge for most video delivery platforms in the past.

Video streaming of Pepsi IPL 2014 on starsports.com has attracted HUL as the presenting sponsor and amazon.in, Toyota, ITC Personal Care and Reckitt Benckiser as associate sponsors.

Amit Chopra, President, Sales, Star India, added, “The most innovative advertisers in India are recognizing the power of the mobile screen. Many of them have been hesitant in the past about investing in video ads online, given the sketchy delivery of both content and ads. We have been able to offer a powerful proposition to these advertisers by delivering a great video experience and a highly engaged sports fan.”

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, tennis and badminton.