Cricket has went on a global stage making one billion fans, however, 90% of the cricket fans come from Indian sub-continent, according to the largest ever market research into the sport conducted by the ICC.
Nearly 70 percent fans are still interested in red ball cricket with fans in England & Wales showing the strongest interest in test format(86 percent). South Africa lead the interest in ODI cricket(91 percent) and Pakistan fan show most interest in T20I cricket (98 percent).
On a Global platform, T20I is the most popular format of cricket with 92 percent interest while ODIs are close with 88 percent interest.
According to the research, the average age of fans is taken from the surveyed age category of 16-69 which will constitute to an average of 34. There were 61% male fans and 39% female fans.
The research was done to understand the growth potential of cricket by ICC and its members. The survey may also help shape the development of the growth focused global strategy for the game, drive decision making and to provide a benchmark upon which to measure the outcomes of the strategy.
It also supports the ICC and its members in shaping and implementing their fan engagement strategies and clearly presents cricket as a vibrant and popular sport globally.
“It is the first global market research project ever undertaken in the sport and having more than one billion fans in the surveyed age category of 16-69 alone, with an average age of 34, is undoubtedly an exciting and strong position from which we can drive the sport forward,” ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said,
“90 percent fans comes come from the Indian sub-continent alone,” he added.
The breakdown of cricket’s three different formats in the research showed two-thirds of fans over the age of 16 who were interviewed are interested in all three international formats of the game.
The importance and popularity of ICC global events was evident with 95% of fans interested or very interested, with the ICC Cricket World Cup and the ICC World T20 the most popular.
Indian subcontinent area include the parent country of India alongside Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal.
