Mumbai: The recently-concluded third season of the Indian Super League (ISL) has drawn tremendous response to its third edition with a total viewership of 216 million as against 207 million last year (BARC, CS4+, U+R).
One of the highlights of the season was the sharp increase in rural India viewership, registering a cumulative figure of 101 million, indicating the widespread appeal of the sport. ISL 2016 recorded a surge of over 25per cent in overall viewer engagement when compared with ISL 2015.
Key metro markets like Mumbai and Chennai emerged as the top performers this season recording a surge of over 50per cent over last year along with a cumulative 20per cent spike in viewership in Tamil Nadu.
The season finale on December 18, which saw over 54,000 people witnessing the game live in the stadium in Kochi, registered a viewership of 41 million on television.
Mrs. Nita Ambani, Founder & Chairperson, Football Sports Development Limited said “The idea behind the inception of the Hero Indian Super League was to present football fans in the country a football entity which they could call their own and associate with. The overwhelming response that we have received this year is testament to the v ision we have for the league. 2016 has seen the Hero Indian Super League scale further heights with the emergence of so many Indian heroes and I would like to thank the people of the country for the heightened interest and love that they have given to the league this year. As part of our constant endeavour to promote football in the country, we will keep on striving to take ISL to the zenith in the coming years to open further avenues for the sport and players.”
Adding to this, Mr. Sanjay Gupta , Managing Director, Star India , said, “ The kick off to the Hero Indian Super League in 2014 signified the birth of a footballing nation. This is a long term journey however we are very encouraged by the incredible fan affinity and increase in followership of the league and the sport in a short span of three years. We had dreamt of the day when Indian footballers would emerge as sporting heroes and this season of the Hero I ndian S uper League has seen many new stars emerge. Further the quality of play and multi – ling ual, high quality broadcast content has delivered record engagement levels amongst fans. T he deeper penetration of the league into Urban and Rural India and the explosive growth of digital consumption augurs well for the future of football in India.
The third edition of the league also took the digital medium by storm registering a doubling of total “watchtime” which was 2.3 times over last year. The phenomenon of the Hero Indian Super League was also visible at the stadiums throughout the season in all ISL club cities, with fan armies and football enthusiasts filling up an average of over 84% seating capacity, the highest across all three seasons.
