India's sport audience base 678 mn; 2 cricketers are most liked: Report

Cricket, football, kabaddi are top three favourites on TV and streaming platforms, it says

India has a sports audience of 678 million people whose favourites on television (TV) and streaming platforms are cricket, football and kabaddi, said a report on Wednesday

Chennai Super Kings, Manchester United and Patna Pirates are the most-recalled franchises in the top three sports, according to the ‘Ormax Sports Audience Report 2024'. Cricket, football and kabaddi have an audience base of 612 million, 305 million and 208 million, respectively.

In the Indian Premier League, Chennai Super Kings is the most-recalled franchisee in the Twenty20 cricket competition. Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore share the second spot.

The report defined sports audience as someone who watched sports content on TV or OTT (over-the-top media service) in the last one year at least for 30 minutes.

Shailesh Kapoor, founder and chief executive officer of Ormax Media, said: “With an increase in digital consumption, TV viewership is no longer an accurate way of estimating sports consumption in a large and heterogeneous country like India. This report is a part of our initiative to build industry data using primary audience research across various categories.”

Cricketer Virat Kohli is the country’s most popular sportsperson and Mahendra Singh Dhoni is ranked number two, despite having retired from international cricket. The report ranks the popularity of sports tournaments, franchises and players by various demographic and market segments, such as gender, age, population strata and states.

 “The Ormax Sports Audience Report: 2024 looks at the Indian sports landscape from an audience-first perspective, and is a comprehensive reckoner for anyone looking at crafting a sports monetization, content or communication strategy for the Indian market, ranging from broadcasters, franchise owners, sports, associations, sports management firms, and advertisers,” said Keerat Grewal, head - Business Development (TV, Streaming & Brands), Ormax Media.

The survey was done between November 2023 and January 2024 and had 12,000 respondents.