Facebook has purchased tender documents worth $10,000 (Rs 6.6 lakh) to join in the bidding for the digital rights of IPL, according to a report in Livemint. Amazon, Twitter and Reliance Jio are other contenders. BCCI sources confirmed to the Economic Times that Facebook had picked up the documents, but Facebook did not comment on the reports.
It makes sense for Facebook to bid for the digital rights considering the massive Facebook campaigns on IPL. The title sponsors have their own campaigns, and each team has their own strategies. The players themselves post multimedia content of training and celebrations during the tournament.
The campaigns are spread across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. Facebook also owns Instagram, so two of its platforms see a surge of activity during the IPL. According to areport by Hiveminds (PDF), a digital marketing firm, Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians are the most engaged with teams on Facebook. On Instagram, the top performing teams are Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Facebook and IPL 2016
This social media share by Royal Challengers Bangalore creatively shows the cricketers as Sith lords from Star Wars.
This social media share by Royal Challengers Bangalore creatively shows the cricketers as Sith lords from Star Wars.
On Facebook, the strategies by the teams included reposting selfies of fans, posting quotes from players on game strategies, posting selfies of the