BCCI and Sony Max team up to launch IPL Fan Parks to boost viewership

KOLKATA: IPL is going big in small towns. The Board of Control for Cricket in India ( BCCI) and Sony Max, the official broadcaster of the Indian Premier League, have teamed up to launch IPL Fan Parks for the first time in 15 small towns to boost viewership of the game and brand value.

The fan parks will be flagged off with the eighth season of the 47-day tournament, which starts on April 8. Every weekend, the organisers will try to recreate the stadium atmosphere in two towns, hoping to draw at least 10,000 people to watch the match on giant screens at each of the venues.

The venture is non-commercial and entry will be free. According to officials at both BCCI and SET Max, the objective is to drive viewership and scale up the brand value of the tournament. Industry sources estimate the brand-building exercise will cost at least Rs 15-20 crore.

"Not many people get the opportunity to watch a cricket match in a stadium. And since summers are around the corner, the idea is to bring people out on the weekends with family and give them the stadium-like experience," said IPL chief operating officer Sundar Raman.

The towns include Agra, Hamirpur, Coimbatore, Warangal and Udaipur. It’s yet to be decided where the fan parks will be set up for the final on May 24. "We took the help of our league partners to identify the cities. These are typically large towns which are not catered to as frequently as we would like to," said Raman, adding that the model is scalable.

Neeraj Vyas, EVP and business head at Max, said the broadcaster was looking to boost viewership from the current 200 million. "So this event is going to become an annual property and we would increase the number of cities every year," he said.

The venues will also act as additional advertising inventory for the tournament’s title sponsor, PepsiCo. Other sponsors such as Vodafone and Yes Bank can use space at the fan parks to advertise without paying extra money. "Pepsi will give the food and beverage support at the venues and other sponsors can carry out various branding activities at the event. The IPL franchisers will also get an opportunity to sell their merchandise at the venue and build the fan base," explained Raman.