Cricket fans now spend more time off the pitch than on it

MUMBAI: The scoreboard may stop ticking after the final over, but fans clearly are not logging off. Cricket consumption is rapidly spilling beyond live broadcasts, with Google revealing that 66 per cent of fan engagement time is now spent on non-live content across platforms such as Search and YouTube, while live match viewing accounts for just 34 per cent. The shift signals how modern cricket fandom is becoming a full-time digital habit rather than a match-time ritual.

According to Google’s latest observations on audience behaviour, second-screen viewing has now become almost universal among cricket audiences. Nearly 90 per cent of fans actively use another device while watching matches, turning every game into a parallel stream of memes, searches, predictions, commentary and endless rabbit holes about players, tactics and controversies.

In other words, cricket fans are no longer just watching the game, they are simultaneously Googling it, debating it, remixing it and bingeing it.

And the internet is keeping score.

Google Trends data showed IPL-related searches surged 80% globally in 2026, reflecting how digital curiosity around the tournament now stretches far beyond scorecards and highlights. Fans increasingly search for everything from player backstories and match situations to merchandise, tournament drama and AI-powered explainer queries during games.

The company said users are also asking more layered follow-up questions through AI-enabled search experiences while matches unfold live, making cricket consumption more conversational and interactive than ever before.

Google identified three broad categories of digital cricket audiences shaping this new behaviour.

The first group includes casual trend-followers who mainly engage with viral moments, short-form clips and social media chatter. The second category gravitates towards player narratives, emotional storytelling and behind-the-scenes journeys. The third, perhaps the internet’s favourite species consists of deeply invested superfans chasing tactical analysis, predictions, expert debates and cricket merchandise.

And the scale is staggering.

According to Google, cricket-related content on YouTube generated 190 billion views last year alone, underlining how fan engagement increasingly lives beyond the boundaries of television broadcasts.

For advertisers and brands, the message is becoming impossible to ignore: the real match may still happen on the field, but the audience now lives everywhere else too.

From search bars to creator communities, cricket has evolved into a sprawling digital conversation, one that starts before the toss and often lasts well after the trophy lift.