The Board of Control for Cricket in India terms the IPL first leg in UAE “an unprecedented success in terms of fan turnout, television viewership, digital and ticket collections”.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India on Saturday termed the first leg of Indian Premier League matches, hosted by the UAE recently “an unprecedented success in terms of fan turnout, television viewership, digital and ticket collections”.
“Inviting full houses to every game at the three venues — the UAE played perfect hosts. Around 82 per cent were paid tickets when compared with 56 per cent in South Africa during the 2009 season,” the BCCI said in a statement.
Lauding the overwhelming response, BCCI honorary secretary Sanjay Patel said: “The initial success has given us a lot of confidence for the India leg. We firmly believe that the steps taken to match and set new standards of fan involvement in the IPL have been enormously successful.”
While the UAE hosted 20 games in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah stadiums, the Indian leg of the IPL resumed with a match between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders on Friday.
IPL chairman Ranjib Biswal said: “As pleased we are of the brilliant response in the UAE, our next aim is to make the IPL more appealing to the fans back home.”
The television viewership has been able to sustain the numbers from last year for the first 20 games, the release said. The rise in fan interest has been multi-fold, as suggested in the numbers garnered on IPL’s digital properties, it added.
