14 DAY TRIAL // The Indian Premier League is returning to YouTube for another season after being hugely popular last year. The video site has partnered with Indiatimes again to offer live matches as well as recaps and other content to cricket fans around the world.
Last year, the move proved to be a bigger success than anticipated and the matches racked up 40 million views. This year, it may very well do even better.
"Indian Premier League may only be four-years old, but it’s quickly become the hottest new addition to the world of cricket. And again this year, YouTube is bringing you all the action straight from the pitch of this superstar cricket extravaganza," Amit Agrawal, Head of Content Partnerships in India for YouTube, writes.
"In partnership with Indiatimes, fans can watch games as they happen, view entire past matches, and enjoy highlight clips of all 74 matches on Indiatimes’ YouTube Channel," he announced.
"The 51-day tournament kicked off Friday night with the returning champion Chennai Super Kings besting the Kolkata Knight Riders at home. That very first match and every other game of the IPL season will be webcast globally on YouTube," he added.
All matches will be streamed live around the world. Due to contractual obligations, the matches will have a five minute delay in India, to encourage people to watch on TV rather than YouTube, and will only be available after the match ends in the US, for the very same reason.
Still, it's a major step forwards for YouTube which is starting to become a destination for live sports. Since cricket is popular in many parts of the world, the IPL has enjoyed a big audience in the previous season, also streamed by the site.
YouTube has been working on getting other live matches and video content on the site and has partnerships with several sports leagues in some countries. Still, it has a long way to go before becoming a big source of live sports videos.