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IPL 2020 opener became the most-watched game in the sporting world.
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Absence of crowd at the stadium was the prime reason behind the unprecedented record.
After a much delay, the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020, finally started last week with a game between defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) and previous year’s runners-up Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
It was expected that the absence of crowd in the stadiums would increase the viewership, and this is precisely what happened in the season-opener of IPL 2020. It created a new world record in the sporting field.
The MI vs CSK game saw an unprecedented 20 crore people tuning into their television sets as well as other online gadgets, making it the most-watched opening game of any sports league in the world.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah, on Tuesday, announced the news on Twitter.
“Opening match of #Dream11IPL sets a new record! As per BARC, an unprecedented 20crore people tuned in to watch the match. Highest ever opening day viewership for any sporting league in any country- no league has ever opened as big as this. @IPL @SGanguly99 @UShanx @DisneyPlusHS,” he wrote.
Opening match of #Dream11IPL sets a new record!
As per BARC, an unprecedented 20crore people tuned in to watch the match. Highest ever opening day viewership for any sporting league in any country- no league has ever opened as big as this. @IPL @SGanguly99 @UShanx @DisneyPlusHS
— Jay Shah (@JayShah) September 22, 2020
The official Twitter handle of IPL also confirmed the news as it thanked Indian viewers as well as people from across the world by using earth globe emojis of different continents.
“Thank you, India (Flag of India) and (Earth globe Asia-Australia) (Earth globe Americas) (Earth globe Asia-Australia). It’s been a dream start to #Dream11IPL. We’ve recorded highest ever TV & DIGITAL viewership in IPL history. 200 million viewership – #MIvCSK @ChennaiIPL DelhiCapitals @lionsdenkxip @KKRiders @mipaltan @rajasthanroyals @RCBTweets @SunRisers,” IPL tweeted.
Thank you, India 🇮🇳 and 🌏🌎🌏. It’s been a dream start to #Dream11IPL. We’ve recorded highest ever TV & DIGITAL viewership in IPL history
200 million viewership – #MIvCSK@ChennaiIPL @DelhiCapitals @lionsdenkxip @KKRiders @mipaltan @rajasthanroyals @RCBTweets @SunRisers
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) September 22, 2020
Sourav Ganguly had anticipated the high ratings
Earlier, Sourav Ganguly had given the hints of the viewership records to be set in IPL 2020. He had remarked that the crowd who can’t come to the ground would watch the lucrative league on their television sets.
“They (broadcasters) are expecting the highest rating of IPL this season because they believe if (people) don’t turn up in the ground, they will be watching on their television sets. There is a positive in everything,” Ganguly had said as quoted by TOI.