Pro Kabaddi League Season 4 grows 51%

The fourth installment of the league registered 10 million average impressions

This season had a total of 12 sponsors compared to nine sponsors in Season 3. Some of the brands associated with the sport include Airtel and SBI, among others

The STAR Sports Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) has seen a 51 per cent growth in viewership on a cumulative basis over the past four seasons, according to data released by STAR India. The first season, aired in July 2014, was a surprise hit in urban and semi-urban areas.

Since then, PKL has become a bi-annual event. The recently concluded Season 4 posted 10 million average impressions.

Nitin Kukreja, CEO of STAR Sports, said: “The spectacular growth in viewers is testament to the journey that Kabaddi has made over the course of four seasons. Both the men’s and women’s games have been loved by Indian audiences and the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup will be another milestone in the journey of this spectacular sport.”

This year, the PKL programming included the Women’s Kabaddi Challenge. The initiative saw women kabaddi players hit the mat with three teams competing. The women’s matches, aired at 9:00 pm on selected days, raked in an average 6.7 million impressions (BARC data) on TV at an all-India CS 4+ (cable and satellite viewers above four years of age) level. This is 2.3 times higher than the previous high of 2.9 million impressions recorded for the ICC World T20 2016 second semi-final game between New Zealand and West Indies - the highest rated women’s game in India till date.

This season had a total of 12 sponsors compared to nine sponsors in Season 3. Some of the brands associated with the sport include Airtel, State Bank of India, Gionee Mobiles, Bajaj Electricals, Vini Cosmetics, Amazon, Fair & Lovely Men, Nestlé Munch, Castrol, Britannia, Bisleri and Indo Nissin Foods. A total of 64 brands were associated with the league between central and eight franchises for Season 4.

The network is now gearing up for the first ever Kabaddi World Cup, which is set to kick off in October this year. Scheduled to take place in India, the event will witness 12 teams from around the world including the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, Iran, Poland, Pakistan, Bangladesh among others.