IPL opening match breaks record viewership

According to the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) survey, the opening match of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 witnessed record viewership of any sporting league ever. BCCI Secretary Jay Shah claimed that over 20 crore people watched the opening match between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians at Abu Dhabi on Saturday night.

“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”, tweeted Shah, who is the son of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

This season’s IPL matches are being held amidst high security and safety precautions due to the spread of Covid-19.

In India, renowned to be a country of cricket lovers, fans were looking forward for the IPL season especially because no matches were held due to Covid spread. IPL was live-streamed on Disney-Hotstar and was available on Star Sports channel as well.

BCCI president and former Indian player Saurav Ganguly had earlier stated that he hoped to see high ratings in number of viewership for the IPL. In the opening match, Chennai Super Kings, under captaincy of MS Dhoni, won the cup.

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