India's tour of the West Indies, which is slated to take place from July 22 to August 7, will be broadcast on DD Sports, the primary public sports broadcaster in the nation, thanks to a special agreement with live streaming and e-commerce platform FanCode.
For the first time in 15 years, an India away series will be exclusively broadcast on DD Sports. FanCode signed a four-year agreement with Cricket West Indies (CWI) in April 2021, making it the first digital platform to do so. Through this agreement, FanCode will have exclusive broadcast rights for roughly 150 international and 250 domestic cricket matches in the Caribbean through 2024.
The agreement also covers the next three ODI and five T20I India men's tour of the West Indies, which will be live streamed on the FanCode app. FanCode has provided DD Sports with TV rights so that they are now accessible on all Cable and DTH platforms, with the exception of DD FreeDish, in order to ensure that viewers that only watch television do not lose out on India's tour of the West Indies.
"In India, cricket is without a doubt the most popular sport and form of entertainment. We're happy to deliver the upcoming India tour of the West Indies to the masses through DD Sports because there's still a sizable market and audience for sports consumption on television even in the rapidly expanding digital age " Prasar Bharti CEO, Mayank Kumar Agrawal stated.
While developing a distinctive digital sports fan experience, he continued, "FanCode's extension of rights to DD Sports will mean expanded access to all sports fans for the series."
The ODIs and T20Is of this series will begin at 7 p.m. IST and 8 p.m. IST, respectively, during prime time in India. The T20Is will be played in Trinidad, St. Kitts & Nevis, and Lauderhill, Florida, while the ODIs will be played entirely in Port of Spain, Trinidad.
Prasana Krishnan, co-founder of FanCode, further commented on the development, stating that "FanCode's single-most objective is to provide superlative user experience and solution for accessibility gaps fans experience in sports consumption and experience, in line with the government's vision to transform India's adaptability for digital through initiatives like Digital India."
The India tour of West Indies will be broadcast on the optimum platform thanks to DD Sports' unrivalled coverage in smaller cities and towns, while we strive to improve the national digital fan experience.