STAR India plays it right with kabaddi

Pro Kabaddi League, launched in July 2014, just finished its third season, and will be back in June with the fourth season

Outside an ATM in a plush Mumbai suburb, two guards stand immersed in conversation. They are talking about the previous night’s game on television and no, for a change, it is not cricket but kabaddi that is stoking their passions. Three seasons down, STAR India’s gamble on the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) is paying off. Viewership is on the rise; it is up 30 per cent among boys and young males (4-14 years), between seasons two and three. Old sponsors have renewed their pledges and new stars such as Pepsico, HUL, Gionee and Idea have clambered on board. And encouraged by the 213 million people watching league matches according to BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council), STAR  India is increasing the on-air time for the sport, from 30 to 80 days, for Season 4 that begins in June this year.

Buoyed by the tournament’s success, the broadcaster is also considering a Kabaddi World Cup. Scheduled for the last quarter of the current calendar, the league will consist of 12 countries out of the 34 that currently play the game at an international level. Although kabaddi does not come within a whisker of the viewership-sponsorship numbers for cricket, it is opening up the field in India.

“Until three to five years ago, we were pretty much a single sport nation  — cricket. When we drew up the long term sports strategy as a network, we wanted to expand the number of sports (shown) in the country, and further grow cricket. Our investments have been equally focussed on cricket and other sports like kabaddi, football, hockey and tennis,” says STAR India COO Sanjay Gupta.

Back in 2014, STAR India CEO Uday Shankar surprised everyone when he said the network would not go to market with an ad-sales pitch for PKL in the first year. STAR took up the title sponsorship for the tournament through STAR Sports, which it has retained in consequent seasons. However, given the ratings that Season 1 delivered, the network found little difficulty roping in brands in the following seasons. Between seasons two and three, urban ratings have gone up 1.8 times.

For Season 3, there were nine sponsors, four from the previous season and five new ones. Not only has the volume of brands engaging with the tournament increased, but sources reveal, the ticket size of these associations is also seeing a steady upswing. “While I would refrain from getting into specifics, it would suffice to say that the ad revenue is now a sizeable amount,” says Gupta. As a thumb rule, annual sporting events see a rise of 15 odd per cent in terms of inventory ad rates.

CROWD PULLER

• Ratings growth: STAR Sports Pro Kabaddi League reached 213 million viewers in the first 4 weeks of Season 3. Of this 103 million are urban and the balance 110 million are rural viewers. Urban viewership has grown 1.8 times
• In-stadia attendance: Spectators have filled up stadiums to near 100% at all venues across franchises
• Brand associations: 64 brands associated with the league this season; 29 new, the rest have renewed their ties from Season 2
• Sponsorships: 9 on-air sponsors in Season 3; of these 4 are old associate sponsors (TVS Motors, Bajaj Electricals, Flipkart, State Bank of India) and 5 have joined this season (Gionee Mobiles and Idea as associate sponsors and Fair & Lovely Men Face Wash, Indo Nissin, PepsiCo as partners)

STAR however is being careful with the way it manages the brand partnerships. It says that while the increase has been healthy, it will try and keep the associations at a level such that the premium drawn by existing brand tie-ups are not diluted. According to media reports, PKL 2015 saw an investment of around Rs 70 crore and ad/sponsorship revenues of approximately Rs 55 crore. The investments in Season 3 are not expected to be more than Season 2 and the ad revenue, sources say, should be in line with the 15-20 per cent hike that successful tournaments see.

Brands are interested because the sport is popular among younger male audiences, a demographic all want to target. Also kabaddi throws up an opportunity to connect with audiences outside the metros. Besides, for home-grown brands like Idea Cellular, Flipkart and Bajaj, many believe, the association is a good fit because kabaddi too is an indigenous phenomenon. “With the world cup later this year, we believe that this interest will only increase since brands have a global aspiration as well,” feels Gupta.

Another factor that has played a big role in catapulting the sport centre stage has been the addition of rural markets in BARC ratings data. While urban viewers/ impressions for the first four weeks of Season 3 is 103 million, rural markets accounted for 110 million, boosting ratings even further. The fact that the tournament is available in multiple regional languages  — Kannada and Telugu apart from Hindi and English has also helped get viewers from beyond the metros. For a sport that has long been played in the bylanes of obscurity, growing attention from viewers and brands signals interesting times ahead.