How cricket became an ‘online’ sport
Cricket was once an opaque sport. Everything the viewer was privy to was within the iron-tight confines of the field of play. Other than interviews and press conferences, access to players was limited. Memoirs and ‘autiobios’ were consumed, with a certain voraciousness for detail.
What did Rahul Dravid’s mum pack in his tiffin? Where did Azhar have his bats made? Occasionally, when a dressing room anecdote floated into the public domain, it was savored, dissected, and discussed fervently.
A video camera inside a dressing room was unthinkable until the advent of the IPL, with an audience that demanded and commanded full access to the players and their environs.
Over the last 18 years of IPL (yes, it’s been almost two decades now), franchise-led content creation has blossomed and gone into overdrive. IPL creators have taken inspiration from American sports and the EPL teams, which are old hands at hyper-access-extreme marketing.
Along the way, the Australian test team opened their doors to a production crew for the first, no-holds-barred look at the inner workings of a top-flight cricket team. “The Test”, which can be viewed on Amazon Prime, showed us the good, bad, and ugly moments that go into the making of international cricketers. It might be a vastly different culture to Asian teams, but some insights like approaches to training, mental strength, and coaching, are universal.
Enter the IPL content brigade with a zhuzhed-up version of this, pulling in influences and trends from TikTok/YouTube mixed with hyper-local connections for each team. Now, each team has a platoon of camera-wielding, mic-toting minions, some more high profile like the hilarious Mr.Nags (RCB’s beloved jester played by comedian Danish Sait). Barring a few female hosts, the IPL content creation world is male-dominated, and it has fan views in the tens or hundreds of thousands for even the most banal video.
A story in the Hindustan Times reported a social media analytics study by Social Insider and SEM Rush that the most popular IPL team in 2024 was the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), with a whopping 2 billion engagements across Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook. For context, this exceeds the social media presence of football giants Liverpool and Man United and is 25% more than the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), who placed second. No wonder RCB calls their fan army their “12th man.”
Social engagement has become a serious business for IPL franchises. Higher engagement numbers equal more sponsor interest, which translates to direct revenue, as this story on IPL social media metrics reveals.
IPL Video Watch
World Champion Gukesh vs Ashwin in Anbuden | Chennai Super Stars | Full Video | IPL 2025
Chennai has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to audience engagement. Tapping into the kind of deifying fandom only available in Tamizh Nadu, the CSK content team usually finds ways to expand their base and draw attention to other sports. This interaction between R Ashwin and chess wunderkind, Gukesh Dommaraju is a perfect example.
Royals District EP2 | Rajasthan Royals | IPL 2025
RR has pulled in the stellar team at Cricket District to make these beautifully produced videos.
Inside the SRH (Sunrisers Hyderabad) Dressing Room | #DCvSRH | #TATAIPL2025
SRH’s gloriously honest coach and captain (Dan Vettori and Pat Cummins) are perfectly suited for these post-match discussion videos.
Prestige presents Knight Bite Ep 1: Biriyani Bros ft. Rinku Singh, Moeen & Gurbaz | Chef Kunal Kapur
Train Like a Knight – Epi 1 | Ajinkya Rahane’s Fitness & Training Secrets | #AmiKKR | #TATAIPL2025
Kolkatta Knight Riders (KKR) displays a clear marketing vision by obtaining sponsors for video segments that range from training and diet to making biryani.
Captain Rajat Patidar debuts on RCB Insider Show with Mr. Nags | IPL 2025
RCB demonstrates why they are ahead of the competition in the social media game, though they’ve never won an IPL trophy.
Titans Cam ft. Mohammed Siraj | Gujarat Titans | TATA IPL 2025
Content about IPL teams ranges from the wholesome, like this authentic expression of emotions from Siraj, to the bizarre, like this fictional TV show made for Delhi Capital fans.
Gullu ki Sullu | DC PG by Gulati | Delhi Capitals | Ep. 1
Mumbai, Lucknow or Punjab: These teams focus on reels over longer content that can be found on Instagram.
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