Beyond traditional viewing: Match-watching is evolving. Fans now seek richer, interactive experiences beyond live cricket, turning to second screens for engagement.
Rise of regional languages: Regional and interest-based content consumption is soaring, with users exploring everything from entertainment and gaming to food and news in their own languages.
AI-powered engagement: Smart surfaces, from lock screens to connected TVs and apps, are redefining consumer engagement, creating powerful opportunities for brands to connect where it matters most.
As cricket fever grips the nation, millions of Indian cricket fans are not just watching the game – they’re engaging with it like never before. Glance, the world’s leading smart lock screen platform, unveiled the report ‘Decoding Indian Cricket Fans: Consumer Insights and Seasonal Marketing Strategies for 2025’ in partnership with InMobi Advertising, a leading provider of marketing and monetization technologies that help businesses fuel growth, and AppsFlyer, the global leader in mobile measurement, attribution, and data analytics.
Based on insights from the 2024 cricket season, the report highlights how fans are embracing second-screen experiences on AI-powered smart surfaces, and mobile-first engagement, offering brands a strategic playbook for this high-energy period. During IPL season last year, arguably India’s biggest cricket tournament, over 120 million users engaged with Glance smart lock screen, preferring interactive, one-tap content over passive match-watching. This second-screen behavior is growing, with users having spent 44% more time on cricket-related content overall, driving 314 billion glances and 433 million taps. They also explored news, entertainment, food, and health content, while quick commerce and gaming saw a surge in engagement.
Cricket fans consumed content in multiple languages, with English dominating at around 81%, given its widespread appeal among urban and digital-first audiences. Regional languages made up approximately 19% of the consumption, with Hindi (36.22%), Tamil (25.31%), Kannada (15.35%), Marathi (12.13%), and Telugu (10.99%) gaining traction, reflecting the local connection to the game.
Beyond second screens and smart surfaces, apps maintained a lead during the cricket season. AppsFlyer data shows a significant spike in app installs, and in-app purchases, particularly in OTT, streaming, shopping, food and drinks, investment, and travel. Engagement skyrocketed, with gaming apps seeing 6x higher CTRs, home entertainment 5.6x higher, and music 3.5x higher. Cricket fans were more active than ever, with 9.4% more in-app clicks, 21x higher video ad engagement, and full-screen interstitials delivering 13x better performance than industry benchmarks.
Bikash Chowdhury, Chief Marketing Officer, InMobi and Glance expressed, “At Glance, we’re reimagining how consumers interact with their daily devices such as mobile lock screens and connected TVs, transforming them into more engaging screens and smarter surfaces. For brands, Glance allows them to reach consumers directly on their lock screens and ambient screens of connected TVs. With InMobi Exchange, brands can extend their campaigns beyond the smart lock screen into the app environment as well. This cricket season, we’re excited to partner with AppsFlyer to bring marketers deep app-based insights, driving impactful and effective campaigns.”
“The intersection of cricket and digital engagement has never been more powerful. The insights from this collaborative report highlight a shift in how fans interact with content, with mobile emerging as the true second screen. Our findings show a 35% rise in Android app installs and a 28% surge in iOS installs from pre-IPL to peak season in 2024. This is a prime opportunity for brands—not just to reach audiences but to engage them meaningfully at high-intent moments. With deep measurement and attribution, marketers can drive data-led acquisition, retention, and engagement during IPL and beyond. Together with InMobi Advertising and Glance, we help brands navigate this evolving landscape, making every interaction count in the dynamic world of mobile marketing,” commented Sanjay Trisal, General Manager, INSEA/ANZ, AppsFlyer.