MUMBAI: Digital sports platform FanCode, the India media rights holder for cricket played in the West Indies, has announced DD Sports as the exclusive television partner for the upcoming India tour of the Caribbean, “to build accessibility for the tour for television viewers across the country”.
The tour, scheduled between July 22 and August 7, will be the first India-away series to be hosted exclusively on DD Sports in the last 15 years.
In April 2021, FanCode became the first-ever digital platform to sign a historic four-year deal with Cricket West Indies, giving exclusive broadcast rights to FanCode for almost 150 international and 250 domestic cricket matches of the Caribbean until 2024. The deal includes India’s upcoming tour of the West Indies consisting of 3 ODIs and 5 T20Is, which will be exclusively live-streamed on the FanCode app (Android, iOS, TV) and www.fancode.com with a user-first digital experience.
To ensure that the television-only audiences do not miss out on the tour and to make it easily accessible to all such sports fans, FanCode has offered TV rights to DD Sports to now be available on all cable and DTH platforms, apart from DD FreeDish. The series will be played during India’s prime-time with ODIs starting at 7pm and T20Is starting at 8 pm IST.
Speaking on the partnership, Mayank Kumar Agrawal, CEO, Prasar Bharati, said: “Cricket is the undisputed leader in sports and entertainment in India. Even in the fast-growing digital age, there continues to be a significant market and audience for sports consumption on television, and we are glad to bring the upcoming India tour of the West Indies to the masses through DD Sports. While FanCode is building a unique digital experience for sports fans, their extension of rights to DD Sports will mean wider accessibility to all sports fans for the series.”
Commenting on this, Prasana Krishnan, co-founder, FanCode, said, “DD Sports’ reach in smaller cities and towns is unbeatable, making it the ideal platform to televise the India tour of West Indies, while we continue to build a superior digital experience for fans nationally.”
FanCode is curating a comprehensive and immersive digital experience aimed at redefining how fans consume sports, right from selecting their commentary language, statistics and analysis of choice through interactive overlays, while watching the live stream. Fans will also be able to rewatch and relive any moment from the game almost in real-time. Another offering unique to FanCode is their focus on keeping the series accessible to all users with subscription options like Tour Pass, where fans can select and pay just for the entire series.
Watch the India tour of West Indies LIVE on FanCode App (Android, iOS, TV), www.fancode.com, and DD Sports from July 22, 2022, 7 PM onwards.
