Subscription-based video-on-demand streaming platform Disney+Hotstar has been ruling Google Play Store’s chart since Indian Premier League 2020 began on September 19, data from intelligence platform Sensor Tower shows.
Disney+Hotstar was leading the Play Store’s top chart between September 19 to September 25 with the app recording a surge in downloads when the tournament began and was downloaded over 6 million times in five days, between September 19 to September 23.
Disney+Hotstar is the exclusive digital streaming partner of IPL. Its operating entity Star Network had also acquired the official rights to broadcast IPL for television.
Notably, Disney+Hotstar has registered around 13 million installs in the last 30 days out of which 6 million or 45% installs came in just five days.
The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has forced sporting events to be held without audiences in the stadium or on the ground and in the case of IPL, not even in its home country as the current edition is being played in the UAE.
According to a tweet by Indian cricket board’s secretary Jay Shah, the first match of IPL 2020 was watched by 200 million people on television and Disney+Hotstar, which, according to Shah, is the highest ever opening day viewership for any sporting league ever.
Besides Disney+Hotstar, Dream11, the fantasy sports platform and the official sponsor of IPL 2020, has been gaining popularity on Apple App Store. While Google Play Store doesn’t allow fantasy sports apps on its platform, Dream11 has been sharing the top honours with Disney+Hotstar in the App Store’s top chart from September 19 to September 25, shows Sensor Tower data.
The number of downloads for Dream11’s app by iOS users during the period was less than 100K. It’s worth noting that Android users can only download fantasy sports apps through Android Application Package or APK.
