Twitter partners with Sony Pictures Networks India for cricket content

As a part of the association, Twitter audiences in India will be able to view premium in-match cricket video content and sports fans would have a second screen experience on Twitter for India’s upcoming cricket tours with Sri Lanka and England.

With anticipation mounting for the Indian cricket team’s Sri Lanka and England tours, people in India will be able to experience cricket video content on their Twitter timeline with in-match and powerplay highlights, through the collaboration between Twitter and Sony Pictures Networks. Brands can align with the premium video content via pre-roll ads or promoted videos to reach sports audiences in real-time.

Recent Twitter research found that 69% of all people on Twitter in India classify themselves as cricket fans and 30% of people describe themselves as huge fans. 51% of cricket fans on Twitter read posts about matches, players, news reports; this season, 25% of fans plan to engage with Tweets during the match and 31% of fans plan to watch videos and 25% of fans want to follow the teams on the service.

Speaking of the partnership, Amrita Tripathi, Lead - Global Content Partnerships, Twitter India, said, “While the sports experience has changed in recent times, the roar of sports fans on Twitter is louder than ever. Conversations around cricket leagues in 2020 increased by 23% when compared to those in 2019 - which in itself was a record-breaker with 27 million Tweets. We are delighted to partner with Sony to bring in-match premium cricket video content to people on Twitter in India for the very first time, building on a promising content partnership with one of the top sports broadcasters in the region.”

This would be the first time, with the sports channels of Sony Pictures Networks’ (@SonySportsIndia) live coverage of the tours on Twitter, cricket fans will be able to consume video highlights and experience the game in real-time. Wickets, 4’s, 6’s, Man of the Match clips, best catches of the match, all of these video highlights along with Twitter Moments, will be available for fans across various cricket formats.

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Manish Aggarwal, Head – Growth and Monetisation, Digital Business, Sony Pictures Networks India said, “We are excited to partner with Twitter and take our viewer engagement to the next level. It is a pleasure to come together and be able to reach out to cricket enthusiasts with video highlights. Since it is a new and refreshing phenomenon, the viewers will now have one more platform to share/discuss and express their views on the matches.”

Publisher partnerships on Twitter provide consumers with premium content and can also be leveraged by brands with Twitter Amplify. This partnership with Sony Pictures Networks will offer brands the chance to align their ads via pre-rolls with this premium content, thus amplifying their ads when audiences on Twitter are the most leaned-in. Learn more about Amplify for publishers and advertisers here.

Through the course of this year, Twitter plans to bring a range of different cricket content from partners, like the sports channels of Sony Pictures Networks India, including Twitter Spaces and behind the scenes action with the Twitter #BlueRoom for the upcoming World Cup series and India vs. Australia women’s series.