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The 2026 IPL season is drawing to a close after another record-breaking year of connecting with its fans. This edition had a cross-platform reach of over one billion screens, with the average digital and viewer reach for individual games hitting 277 million people.
The IPL’s second screen ecosystem is a major factor for keeping these figures increasing, even as traditional linear TV viewers dip. An average IPL game in 2026 had 7.84 million concurrent views in India, down from 2025’s peak of 10.6 million. Despite this, overall reach still rose.
The wide availability of smartphones and cheap mobile data plans means that more eyes than ever are on the IPL. This comes via betting and fantasy apps, social media, video highlights, and more.
These are the key factors behind the second screen ecosystem that drives how fans interact with the IPL, offering fans alternative experiences as they watch games, and keeping them connected for when they can’t.
Gamification drives the second screen experience
By far the biggest use of second screens when watching the IPL is playing fantasy sports and betting on the action. Phones are already the most popular way for people to play, with fantasy sports and betting operators regularly reporting that more than 90% of their traffic comes from phones. During the IPL, this is exaggerating even more.
Top betting apps, such as the ones on Goal.com’s list of the best betting apps in India, report being opened an average of over five times per day and getting billions of page impressions during the IPL season. Meanwhile, fantasy sports apps at their peak saw player umbers swell to over 370 million during the season.
Fantasy apps also see around 200,000 in-game boosters deployed during every IPL game, while franchises who have embedded fantasy elements into their apps see a huge 5.7x jump in fan engagement time. This is clearly a major way to connect with fans, though there are other ways that second screens are used.
Non-live media major second screen factor
The other major factor in the second screen ecosystem is video media. An incredible 66% of total cricket media consumption comes from non-live media such as highlights, player stories and behind-the-scenes looks at the franchises. This means that, on average, IPL fans only spend 34% of their screen time watching games.
Fans can also watch the games on their phones, and broadcasters have learned to harness push notifications to ensure fans are kept up to date. For instance, if a star player like Virat Kohli is heading to the crease, the broadcaster’s app will send out a push notification to encourage views on phones to tune in.
Around 85% of fans scroll social media while watching games as well. X, formerly Twitter, and Threads are the two most popular social media platforms for instant reactions and analysis from experts. Meanwhile, more visual apps such as Instagram and Snapchat are especially popular among younger fans, with content creators holding watch-along parties.
There are plenty of other ways to follow the IPL on a second screen too, such as by watching highlights of previous games and checking players’ milestones on stats apps. Added together, this highly interactive second screen ecosystem is a major part of how the IPL keeps so many eyes on it.