How big is kabaddi in India? Here's what numbers are saying about the sport

How big is kabaddi? That what we asked Broadcast Audience Research Council, the audience measurement firm. The answers come with key insights. One, within four years, kabaddi has grown to hit numbers very close to cricket. The last season of the Pro-Kabaddi League (PKL) reached 313 million viewers against 448 mn for the last Indian Premier League (IPL) this year. That makes it the second most watched sport on TV. The share of all non-cricket sports is now 30% against maybe 10% of the total sports viewership pie 5 years back, thanks to kabaddi. Two, of the total kabaddi viewership in India 23% comes from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana — it beats cricket hands down. Strangely enough though a bulk of the players come from Haryana. Three, the viewership of kabaddi has been inching closer to the more popular entertainment shows and sports events. On revenue size, it is just about 15% of the IPL, say analysts. IPL remains the most lucrative league that operates in the most watched sport in India, cricket. The big difference, however, is that the upside, when it comes, will be huge for Star India, which owns broadcast rights to kabaddi – because it owns a majority share in the league.  The Board for Control of Cricket in India is the IPL league, but hawks the media rights separately