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Tag: RCB Innovation Lab

  • IPL 2023 hit 449 million overall viewership on Viacom18 says CEO Anil Jayaraj

    IPL 2023 hit 449 million overall viewership on Viacom18 says CEO Anil Jayaraj

    Mumbai: As a testament to the resounding success of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, Viacom18 CEO Anil Jayaraj revealed that the tournament garnered a record-breaking 449 million viewers overall including 120 million connected TV consumers on its platform while speaking at the RCB Innovation Lab’s Leaders Meet India in Bengaluru last month.

    Advocating for an AI and digital driven future for sports broadcasting in India, Jayaraj stated, “There is nothing of the scale of IPL anywhere in the world. The paid TV universe in this country is expected to be about 100 million so for us to pick 120 million users on connected TV was quite remarkable in year one. Technology is going to make a major change as far as the digital landscape goes. Digital is where the innovation seems to be happening, especially in India with the number of mobile connections, 4G phones, data, and the pure behaviour around linear viewing interactively. The use of technologies like AI will dramatically change our production of content and automation.”

    RCB Innovation Lab’s Leaders Meet India brought together influential leaders from various sectors of sports industry to discuss and explore the dynamics of leadership in the ever-evolving landscape of sports.

    With a significant emphasis on promoting women’s sports, Anil Jayaraj dived into the Women’s Premier League’s (WPL) phenomenal interest among viewers, advertisers, and investors. “What we have seen significantly is that the interest (of WPL), the crowd enthusiasm was phenomenal. The key thing for us was also the quality of production that BCCI put out. For advertisers, it gives them an opportunity to target a very different demographic and that makes a lot of difference from a financial sort of sense for somebody like us who is investing,” he said.

    Jayaraj also touched upon the growing prominence of consuming various sports other than cricket and he hopes that the upcoming Paris Olympics will change that narrative. “The Indian market is predominantly an advertising market. India is very much, on the track of consuming multiple sports but out of the top 100 broadcast or stream programs in the country, 92 happen to be cricket. Hopefully, if we start seeing a lot more Indian athletes win, things will certainly change. That is why we are extremely hopeful of the Olympics. We believe that this is possibly going to be our best-ever performance as a country and I am sure that will be quite a breakthrough.”

    Jayaraj pointed out that Indian sports viewing habits are almost entirely live as 99% of the viewership is online and just 1% happens to be around, highlights, non-live content, and documentaries. However, he was bullish about the growing market of sports documentaries and docu-series in India and predicted that it will become quite big over the next four or five years.

    RCB Innovation Lab’s Leaders Meet India concluded on 30 November.

  • RCB Skipper Mandhana advocates multi-city WPL for Women’s Cricket boost

    RCB Skipper Mandhana advocates multi-city WPL for Women’s Cricket boost

    Mumbai: RCB women’s team captain and Indian women’s cricket team vice-captain Smriti Mandhana shared her perspectives on the potential impact of a multi-city format for the Women’s Premier League (WPL) while speaking at the RCB Innovation Lab’s Leaders Meet India in Bengaluru last week.

    While reflecting on the success of the WPL, Smriti Mandhana expressed enthusiasm for the prospect of adopting a multi-city format at the first-of-its-kind summit that brought together influential leaders from various industries to delve into the future of sports. “It would be great to have WPL in the multi-city format. I think that might be the next step and I am sure the people right here would look into it and make it happen. As an RCB fan, I would love to play in Chinnaswamy where people are chanting ‘RCB RCB’ and just to be in that environment. That is something which is one step ahead for us that it (multi-city format) can reach to places where women’s cricket hasn’t reached and to get new audience going into women’s cricket,” Mandhana commented.

    The 27-year-old believes that the RCB Innovation Lab’s Leaders Meet India was a much-needed platform to understand how different business people look at sports as a platform to generate digital numbers and feels the event should happen more often to interact with other sports icons and business top brass.

    Ahead of the WPL auction and the second season of the tournament, RCB’s captain Mandhana revealed the importance of a conducive environment that the franchise has prepared and she will prioritise the time she spends with the team. “A lot of thoughts have gone into what kind of combinations we need in terms of releases or retention. So we are looking forward to the WPL auctions and hopefully, we get the players who we are looking forward to getting,” added Mandhana.

    Speaking on the growth of women’s sports in India, Mandhana highlighted the remarkable achievements of women athletes in recent years. She emphasized the cultural shift, saying, “Women in India are doing amazing stuff in the last five to 10 years not only in women’s cricket but in women’s sport in general. If you see the last Olympics or Commonwealth or Asian Games, the kind of medals women’s athletes have gone and got for the country is a big inspiration for a lot of smaller city girls out there to pursue their passion. I think women’s sports in general should be treated separately and by doing that they can definitely sell a lot of things in terms of the ticketing or the digital rights.”

    When asked about the areas women’s cricket needs in terms of further investment or further focus to keep propelling forward, Mandhana suggested focusing on the grassroots level.

    “The only thing that we could invest in is the grassroots level of women’s sport in general because a lot of interest is developed with the Indian Women’s team or the WPL tournament. Invest more so that we get a lot more cricketers women cricketers,” she remarked.

    Drawing inspiration from women athletes in international sports, Mandhana revealed her admiration for Alex Morgan in women’s FIFA and acknowledged Serena Williams’ monumental achievements in tennis as her source of motivation.

  • Brendon McCullum considers upcoming test series against India as the real test for Bazball at the RCB Innovation Lab’s Leaders Meet India

    Brendon McCullum considers upcoming test series against India as the real test for Bazball at the RCB Innovation Lab’s Leaders Meet India

    Mumbai: The English test cricket team’s head coach Brendon McCullum highlighted the significant challenge that England will face in the upcoming test series against India while he was addressing the convergence of global sporting stakeholders at the RCB Innovation Lab’s Leaders Meet India in Bengaluru.

    McCullum expressed a sense of anticipation and readiness for the test that lies ahead for Bazball, “We have got a huge challenge against a very good Indian team in five tests in India. I am excited about it because you want to test yourself against the best side and I genuinely believe that India is the best in their own condition. It is going to be a good challenge for us. If we have success then fabulous, if we don’t then I know we will go down in the style that we want to go down.”

    RCB Innovation Lab through the Leader’s Meet: India successfully created a participative platform where global sporting heavyweights exchanged influential dialogues, shared innovative ideas and sporting excellence.

    “I have been invited here to come and share some more stories about leadership. But the opportunity to oversee and rub shoulders with other leaders that have some similarly shared experiences is what you are after as a leader. You are always trying to grow and evolve and this week has been simply fabulous,” shared McCullum while talking about the significance of the first-of-its-kind summit that brought together influential leaders from various sectors of sports industry to discuss and explore the dynamics of leadership in the ever-evolving landscape of sports.

    The renowned former New Zealand captain also revealed that the red ball cricket ensures ninety percent of the English Cricket Board revenue from red ball cricket, and it struggling has a huge impact on the sport for England.

    In his address, McCullum also expressed his thoughts on the essence of Bazball and what it stands for, “We are playing the game, because we love cricket and we want to try and be as good at cricket as we possibly can. During the time that you are in the chair, you want to make sure you enjoy it and you shouldn’t wait till the end of your career to do so. We are very lucky that we have had some immediate success but I don’t think it is the ceiling for us. I think we have seen some guys who have unlocked their potential in the last 18 months or so and that’s what the job is as a leader; to get the most out of the people that you’re in charge of.”

    The 42-year-old also reminiscing the fearless and unbeaten knock of 158 off 73 balls in the very first IPL game credited this unbelievable knock as the inspiration for the Bazball phenomenon and how he still daydreams about this life-changing moment, McCullum said, “The reason why I daydream about that moment is because it literally changed my life. I was just a cricketer for New Zealand, where no one really knew what you did where you’re from, or what you’re capable of. But that day provided the platform, the forum, and the opportunity to change my life.”

  • Global football heavyweights root for India’s bullish sports market at RCB Innovation Lab’s Leaders Meet India

    Global football heavyweights root for India’s bullish sports market at RCB Innovation Lab’s Leaders Meet India

    Mumbai: Global stakeholders from the world of football expressed their optimism regarding the emergence of India as a rising sporting market at the RCB Innovation Lab’s Leaders Meet India on 29 November in Bengaluru.

    Nic Coward who is the former general secretary of the Premier League and CEO of UK Athletics is one of the few global football experts at the country’s first-of-its-kind summit promises to offer a panoramic view of the present and future of the sports industry, advocating and providing insights into the transformative elements that are propelling India into a new era of sporting excellence and business innovation.

    Talking about the economically burgeoning sporting industry of India, Coward stated, “This (India) is the single greatest sports growth economy story anywhere in the world and will be for a considerable period of time. I think one of the great advantages that (India) has is that a lot of this entrepreneurial spirit can go from an idea through to execution pretty quickly. ISL doing what they did in order to grow and to develop created a compelling entertainment product. As things have progressed, there can now be greater coming together of an entire ecosystem.”

    By bringing together titans from the international sporting world, RCB Innovation Lab starting with the Leader’s Meet: India is creating a participative platform where influential dialogues and the exchange of innovative ideas become center stage.

    The Premier League enjoys a substantial fan base in India with interest growing especially among the emerging middle class in the country. The average age of an adult Premier League fan in India is 34.5 years while 39% are aged 25-34.

    Will Brass the Chief Commercial Officer of the English Premier League citing Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh as a key figure in expanding the popularity of Premier League in India said, “Ranveer Singh has been really critical for us in understanding the market. We have been working with him since 2017. He is an authentic fan of the game, an authentic fan of the league, and has delivered a great deal, growing the India-specific social media audiences that we have via the PLO India, social tags here.”

    According to a YouGov survey last year, India enjoys a total of 160 million football enthusiasts. Italy’s 2006 FIFA World Cup champion Alessandro Del Piero who has enthralled the passionate footballing fans of India during his stint at Delhi Dynamos also shared his thoughts on how India can become a football powerhouse at the event.

    “In order to become better, you definitely need to start from the grassroots. If you want to create something big and long-term with real value, you need to invest in facilities and the teams and, of course in coaches. Grassroots is the key, to everything because children learn so fast and much better than us. If you build the academies then you can teach them the right things because talent is everywhere, in India and in every country in the world,” said Mr. Alessandro Del Piero.

    All India Football Federation president Kalyan Chaubey, who was also part of the RCB Innovation Lab’s Leaders Meet India, on the first day spoke about the growth market of Indian football, “India has opportunity business-wise because we have 1/6 population in this world and also the largest population. I have spoken with FIFA several times and the President of FIFA and myself, are on the same page that India has huge potential to develop.”

    RCB Innovation Lab Leaders Meet: India will conclude on 30 November.