Cricket fans to experience live IPL cricket action on cell phones

mig33, the largest global mobile community, has launched an innovative service ahead of the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament. Cricket fans around the world are now able to meet players and cheerleaders, chat with other cricket fans live during matches, stay up-to-date on the latest news from the¬ir favourite teams and get live ball–by-ball commentary and scores - all in the palms of their hands. At the same time, the mig33 platform offers IPL clubs a unique opportunity to interact and engage directly with their growing fan base in India, South Africa and around the world.

mig33 gives cricket fans a complete social entertainment experience. “Cricket is all about enjoying the match action live with your friends and getting the chance to see your cricket heroes live in action,” says Steve Boom, CEO of mig33.

“The mig33 cricket experience brings the best of the real-world experience to the mobile phone.” At the heart of the mig33 cricket experience lies the Cricket Fan Zone, which brings cricket fans from all over the world together to chat live while “watching” IPL matches on mig33. “Real-world “fan zones” have proven enormously successful in major sporting events like the 2006 FIFA World Cup,” says Boom. “The mobile phone offers the ideal medium for bringing fan zones to the virtual world.” mig33 is also partnering with several IPL clubs, including Bangalore Royal Challengers, Kings XI Punjab, Deccan Chargers and Delhi Daredevils, to create official mobile fan clubs on mig33.

These mobile fan clubs give the clubs’ fans around the world access to team news and announcements, members-only chat rooms, message boards and a team store full of virtual merchandise. The mobile fan clubs also feature virtual cricket stadiums, where fans can take part in live, moderated chats with their favourite cricket stars. Initial live chat schedule so far: 14 April Glenn McGrath (Delhi Daredevils) Daniel Vettori (Delhi Daredevils) 15 April Adam Gilchrist (captain of Deccan Chargers) Bangalore Royal Challengers - 3+ times per week (players, coaches, cheerleaders) Many, many more to come –Schedule being finalized with teams in South Africa South Africans can get in on the IPL excitement by texting “cricket” to 31273, or by logging onto m.mig33.com/cricket on their cell phone.

mig33 is a leading mobile community with more than 18 million users, globally, and several million in South Africa. In over 200 countries, members engage in the chat community, use instant messaging, email, photo sharing, virtual gifting, profiles, as well as cheap calls and SMS. Mig33 is designed to work over 2500 different cellphones, so is not restricted to high end smart phones. Users can take advantage of a mix of free and inexpensive services including VoIP calls, chat and instant messaging, photo sharing and social networking features. Mig33 boasts over 20-million registered users worldwide and over 2.5-million in South Africa.