9Apps reported 450% surge in App downloads during Cricketing season, maximum downloads during India Vs Pak match

World T20 championship has just concluded with West Indies emerging as Champions in both Men and Women category. The cricket fever gripped the nation as well as other cricket fans as expected. Google search, twitter hastags, Facebook discussions all were dominated by the tournament thanks to its massive following. 

Cricket-related apps have seen over 450% surge during the ongoing T-20 World Cup; the traffic peaked during the second week into the cricket season with India-Pakistan match adding to the frenzy, according to the latest data shared by 9Apps Trends, 9Apps’ app tracking service. 9Apps is part of Alibaba Mobile Business Unit and one of the most popular third-party app stores in India. The report offers a glimpse on how the android app market has reacted to the cricket mania that has gripped the nation.

Graph depicting the app download surge this cricket season

Talking about the app download trends, Ebrahim Popat, Country Manager of 9Apps said: “9Apps is very popular among Indian users due to its local apps and features. We are encouraged by the strong growth in sports-app downloads, and happy to help so many users connect with their favorite sport.”

Maximum Downloads during India vs Pakistan

The following chart demonstrates the download trend of top 5 cricket-related apps. Before the WT20 started, top 5 cricket-related apps were downloaded around 300,000 times per week; the download surged 340% once the World Cup kicked off. The trend coincides with schedule of the Indian cricket team. 

Take Hotstar TV Movies Live Cricket for example - the most trending cricket app. Since its launch on March 8th, the app has quickly made it to the top 20 in Overall Ranking on 9Apps Trends. Its daily downloads peaked and reached over 200,000 downloads on March 19th – the day India beat Pakistan in a league match.

The keyword search “cricket” has also been trending. Before the WT20, 3 cricket-related app ranked among Top Searches and only 1 ranked among New Ranking. The number went up to 7 and 5 during the third week of the cricket season.

Video apps are becoming more and more popular

Increased smartphone penetration and better network infrastructure is allowing millions of users to enjoy a cricket game on the go. Three of the top 5 cricket-related apps - Hotstar, Cricket T20 2016 Live TV and Cricbuzz provide videos and even live streaming of the matches. The content consumed by cricket fans is getting diversified as users’ appetite for video is fast growing.

Everyone wants to have a piece of the pie

Cricket season is too big to ignore. Sports app developers and content providers have either updated their apps to bring world-cup-theme features, or providing new content to attract users. For instance, UC Browser, the No.1 mobile browser in India with over 59% market share, has revamped its in-app widget UC Cricket to provide a variety of cricket content. It even provides web-based cricket-themed games for users to share the joy of cricket. 9Apps, the No.1 third-party app market of India, has also geared up with push notification features to remind users of the upcoming matches.

The cricket season offers a unique opportunity for app developers and content providers to test their ability in catering to seasonal demands.