ESPNcricinfo, Idea tie up to launch Dream Fields

As part of the initiative, ESPNcricinfo.com will highlight the issue of lack of cricket spaces in cities in India.

ESPNcricinfo and Idea Cellular have formed a long term tie up spanning content and advertising in India to launch Idea Dream Fields. It is a dedicated editorial repository within the website www.espncricinfo.com, which explores the issue of lack of cricket spaces in cities in India.

As part of this initiative, ESPNcricinfo will travel to the prominent cricket cities in the country, speak to fans, players, parents and local administrators, and visit cricket grounds to explore the issue. Idea Dream Fields (www.espncricinfo.com/ideadreamfields) will also feature content gathered from the public via social media.

ESPN and Idea Cellular have an annual sponsorship deal, estimated by market experts to be in the range of US$1-1.5 million, which was initiated in August, 2011. The Dream Fields initiative is part of that deal.

The initiative intends to engage the various stakeholders to present their concerns and issues regarding the cricket playing spaces in the cities in India and marks an attempt to raise this issue at a national level. The content line up for the initiative includes Maidan View, a series on popular cricket grounds; and Ground Reality, a video series exploring the state of cricket in major cities.

Commenting on the insight behind the launch of Dream Fields, Sambit Bal, editor, ESPNcricinfo.com, says, "For Indian cricket to stay strong, we need to ensure that apart from being a cricket-watching country, India is also a cricket-playing country. This initiative is a small step to raise awareness about an issue that is vital to the future of Indian cricket."

Throwing light on the reason for exploring the digital medium for this initiative, Ramesh Kumar, senior director, ESPN digital media, India, says, "The digital medium offers the perfect opportunity to aggregate public opinion on sensitive and vital subjects such as the one we have chosen. We wanted to get all the stakeholders to voice opinions. The nature and scope of this collaboration enables Idea to engage fans in a comprehensive and credible manner and demonstrates ESPNcricinfo's ability to connect brands to cricket fans at all levels of the game."

The initiative will also be supported through activities on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to garner interest and participation.

Sashi Shankar, chief marketing officer, Idea, says, "Cricket is a national craze and we have always supported the game. We do hope that through Idea Dream Fields, we can play our small role to address a concern that looms on the game - lack of space to play it freely. "

ESPNcricinfo.com is part of ESPN Digital Media in India, a digital media business fully owned by ESPN, which runs websites and apps, including espnsoccernet.com, espnf1.com and espn.com.