YouTube to stream IPL semi finals and finals in the U.S.

We started streaming the Indian Premier League cricket season on YouTube with the hope that fans around the world would tune in to follow the action. With only five of 60 matches left in the tournament, we’ve been blown away by the response. We’ve seen views come in from countries around the globe, and the IPL channel on YouTube now has over 40 million views.

We’ve been particularly surprised by the number of cricket fans tuning in from the U.S. Total views from the U.S. for the IPL channel are second only to India. And fans in the U.S. are active, too: they're second only to those in India in terms of subscribing to the IPL channel and rating, commenting and favoriting videos.

With so much enthusiasm coming from U.S., we’re excited to make the semi-final and final matches available on YouTube as they happen. Previously, matches were time-delayed and available 15 minutes after the game ended. Now fans in the U.S. can catch the action as it unfolds in real time as the four top ranking teams progress to the knockout stage of the semi finals.

The first semi-final match starts this Wednesday, April 21, at 8 p.m. IST in Mumbai followed by the second semi-final on April 22 and the third place match on April 24. The winner will be decided at the final match on April 25 in Mumbai. You can see the full schedule on the IPL’s website.

It’s been a great season of IPL on YouTube, and we look forward to some of the best cricket yet as we head into the finals.

PS: If you have a passion for cricket and the IPL, live in the San Francisco Bay Area and are interested in meeting Google/YouTube engineers, we're holding a picnic on the Google campus this Sunday, April 25 where we’ll be showing the finals on the big screen. The event starts at 12:00 p.m. PT. Please find details and register here if you’re interested.