Pro Kabaddi League a testament to the exponential growth of indigenous sports in India
The Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) released the latest viewership data for week 47 with the highlight being that the opening day of the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar recorded a reach of 9.7 million (BARC data: 2+U+R; including DD) and consumption of 0.48 billion minutes. In comparison, the opening day of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 9 this year registered an astounding reach of 46 million (2+U+R) and a consumption of 1.41 billion minutes, which is significantly higher in comparison to the opening day of the global marquee sporting event.
These numbers bring up some interesting talk points in terms of sport viewership in India. The recent figures are a testament to the astronomical growth that the sport of kabaddi has had over the years, which was once considered a rural sport until recently. With India winning medals in kabaddi at the Asian Games and with the launch of the PKL in 2014, the sport has reached the households of both urban and rural populations.
The advancements made in production and broadcasting have been one of the pillars of the rise of kabaddi, with colourful mats and dazzling lights adding to the in-stadia and TV viewing experience. With the sport being broadcasted in regional languages like Tamil, Telugu and Kannada as well, kabaddi has become a widely followed sport all over India and has built heroes out of players.
The broadcast data on sporting competitions indicate that the PKL will lay down the path for indigenous sports properties which will in turn give global sporting events a challenge in terms of viewership. “PKL 2023 has bettered itself from the previous season. The reach numbers are approximately 8 per cent higher than previous season -- and we've haven't even gotten into the business end of the league. Going forward, indigenous sports will continue its strong run giving global events a stiff competition in terms of viewership. We notice this across multiple geographies -- like the United States, Australia etc. and India would be no different," Vinit Karnik, Head, Sports, Esports and Entertainment at GroupM South Asia, told IANS.
Melroy D'Souza, COO of Professional Management Group (PMG), had similar viewpoints with regards to Kabaddi, “"PKL is India's second-biggest sporting property. The numbers, if you see, cricket is India's biggest sport and PKL does very well even in terms of the reach that cricket has. For example, the Men's T20 World Cup 2021 had a viewership of 320 million, whereas PKL has a total viewership of 250 million,” he said.
"The biggest difference between PKL and FIFA (World Cup finals) is that FIFA comes once in four years, whereas PKL is an, every year event. It is pretty much a niche tournament, which has its sets of fans already there, unlike football which happens once in four years. So, the numbers of opening day aren't surprising. It only shows that PKL has turned out to be a consistent tournament which fans are looking forward to, every year."
Melroy D’souza further added, that the PKL’s next competition will be to reach the viewership numbers that cricket gets in India, "In terms of India, to be honest, we are a cricket-dominated country. In the events that happen every four years, I don't think numbers are that great for Olympics. So, the closest second sport in India to be watched after the cricket world cup from a global perspective is FIFA.”
"There is no other sport that we follow. PKL is an established format and happens every year, it has a consistent fan base. The key competition for PKL is not going to be global sports, it will be cricket and how they compete against it, that would be the benchmark."
More viewership data from BARC indicates that the PKL will be able to thrive in terms of viewership even when global events like FIFA take place. The opening day of the PKL was watched by 46 million viewers while for the FIFA World Cup 2022, numbers showed that it was watched by 31 million viewers in its first 6 days, as seen in the viewership report by BARC.
Data revealed that the first 19 games of the PKL clocked 8.15 billion minutes in comparison to the FIFA World Cup 2022 clocking just 6.3 billion minutes. D’Souza also recalled the time of the inception of the PKL and how even though it had its doubters, has been able to become one of the biggest sporting leagues in India due to Charu Sharma and Anand Mahindra- founded Mashal Sports collaborated with Disney Star way back in 2014.
"The growth of kabaddi has been amazing. When PKL was to start seven-eight years back, nobody had seen this. I remember Charu talking to me right in the start, saying he's doing PKL. We all had laughed at him and said Charu is dreaming about it and that it would never have the kind of success,” D’Souza added.
"But Charu and Star together have done a great job of revolutionising the way kabaddi is played, consumed and looked. Kabaddi has inspired other sports to have their own leagues like volleyball and kho-kho. I think all have been inspired by kabaddi. If the content wouldn't have been great, the viewership wouldn't have sustained and credit to people behind for packaging the whole thing.”
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