Yusuf Pathan. (Photo Source: Star Sports/Twitter)

As the most-awaited 16th Indian Premier League finally got underway on Friday, March 31 with the curtain raiser between Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, the official broadcaster Star Sports Network collaborated with Yusuf Pathan to run a campaign to catch viewers enjoying the action for the first game.

The campaign is named #MySocietyStadium, wherein the broadcaster’s representatives will be available at selected societies in the home cities of IPL matches. The Gujarat-born cricketer visited multiple societies in Ahmedabad to join with fans and watch special screenings arranged in the premises. The society members had their eyes shining as the two-time world cup winner’s appearance doubled their joy, making the screening even grander.

The tournament opener was won by the Hardik Pandya-led side, as they chased the target set by the visitors with four balls and five wickets to spare. While Ruturaj Gaikwad helped CSK set a respectable total scoring 92 off 50 balls, it was for the combined efforts of Rashid Khan and Shubman Gill that the hosts were able to clinch a crucial victory to set the tone for the tournament.

It is understood that this campaign will be held across multiple societies of major Indian cities to give the fans a memorable experience and try to give society a stadium-like environment. The first event under this campaign led by the Gujarat-born former cricketer was hugely successful, as people joined heavily to watch the franchises take the centre stage. 

The ongoing tussle between the streamer and broadcaster

For the first time in the history of the marquee tournament, television broadcasting and digital streaming rights are held by two different entities, with Star Sports Network holding broadcast rights, whereas, digital rights are held by JioCinema. In a disclosure by the governing authority, BCCI, earlier it was revealed that the digital rights were sold for a whopping sum of INR 23,758 crore, while Star Sports acquired rights to televise the tournament for a sum of INR 24,632 crore.

Both the license holders have been involved in a viewership war as to which of them acquires the highest viewership through different mediums of airing the tournament. In fact, each of the entities is running multiple campaigns, and collaborating with personalities across the cricketing fraternities to connect better with the audiences.