Hotstar, India’s leading video streaming platform for live cricket and Indian entertainment, this week announced that it will host its second Cricket Festival (CricFest) event in the USA on Saturday, October 13 in San Francisco.
Hotstar is at the forefront of promoting cricket in North America, and through initiatives such as CricFest. According to the International Cricket Council (ICC), the United States now boasts more than 200,000 players, 6,000 teams and 450 leagues across the country.
On the heels of Hotstar’s wildly-successful, sold-out cricket festival in Brooklyn, NY earlier this year, the sports and entertainment platform is hosting its second iteration of CricFest exclusively for its subscribers and is complimentary on Saturday, October 13 at City View at Metreon (135 4th St, San Francisco, CA 94103) from 3 to 7pm.
Attendees will experience the game first-hand through live simulations, activities and entertainment zones at the biggest cricket extravaganza hosted TWICE in 2018 in the United States. Fans will also have the opportunity to interact with legends Anil Kumble and Virender Sehwag.
“Since our launch in the U.S. in September of 2017, Hotstar has become a platform that connects and celebrates the South Asian Diaspora by bringing rich and diverse entertainment across Indian movies, TV shows and live sports, including cricket, kabbadi and badminton. It gives us great pleasure to bring CricFest to the Bay Area this month,” said Ipsita Dasgupta, Head of Hotstar International and President – Strategy at Star India. “Leveraging our technology, consumer insight and expertise in cricket coverage, Hotstar now delivers 160 days of live cricket on our platform, an immersive and engaging experience combined with greater convenience for our North American audience.”
“CricFest is, undoubtedly, the most exciting cricket property in America and brings together the cricketing community from India and the US,” said Anil Kumble, one of the game’s most decorated bowlers and former team India coach and captain. “Cricket fans in the U.S. deserve to watch the sport on a platform that understands their passion for the game and is powered by technology that focuses on delivering a great consumer experience.”
“It’s incredible to see such passion for cricket halfway across the world,” said Virender Sehwag, former Indian cricketer and widely regarded as one of the most destructive batsmen of all time. “CricFest will be an exciting extravaganza for all of the Bay Area cricket fans and enthusiasts, who can now participate in the same experience as millions of Indians back home do through Hotstar.”
In addition, CricFest will unveil an exclusive screening of Hotstar International’s FIRST original series, US 6: The Homecoming. The show features six of the finest, young Indian-American cricketers, as they make the journey to India to train with the Rajasthan Royals and immerse themselves in their own culture. The boys participated in practice sessions and interacted with some of the biggest cricket icons in the game, including Shane Warne, Ajinkya Rahane, Jos Buttler among many, many others. By bringing a group of young men who are so passionate about the game to a place in the world where cricket is at the center, this show celebrates the tremendous devotion the Indian Diaspora has to their ethnic origin.
