The scintillating factor that grips viewers tightly to the national game of India that is Kabaddi is the sheer fundamentals of what the sport stands for. Kabaddi is a sport where a player has no equipment but the sheer strength of his will and the ferocity of one’s body to compete and win the sporting match.
The Kabaddi league was officially formed in 2014 and has seen a staggering increase in its viewer count which has boosted the relevance of the sport to bag the position of India’s second most-watched game following the Indian Premier League which stands in the first position. More information on the slope of increase when it comes to the Kabaddi league viewership can be found on Betway.
The origins of the game in India can be traced all the way back to the Kurukshetra War and was taught to the soldiers of the war to practice self-defense as Kabaddi is a game that revolves around the instinct of one’s precision and the ability to control the reflex of your actions to tag your opponent; both of these attributes are incredibly advantageous in a battle if rendered weaponless.
Sony Pictures Network has been responsible for bringing Kabaddi to the globe for over a decade as the major distributor of the sport but recently, Star India bought the rights from Sony pictures network for INR 16000+ crores to be the sole distributor of the Kabbadi league sport.
The inaugural season of the PKL was recorded to have a viewership of around 435 million viewers which stands second to the IPL which acquired a viewership of 560 million but as time progressed, it was reported that by the time PKL reached its fourth season, the viewership statistics increased in percentage to 51% in comparison to the first season.
Points to Note
According to the business statistics, a viewership of over 3.3 billion has been the established estimate for the fifth edition of the PKL with over 26.5 million people following the event which almost comes close to match the statistics of the 10th edition of the IPL which garnered a total following of over 39 million people.
In 2017, the total TRP that was calculated for the finals of the PKL was a gigantic number of impressions of about 316 million which comes to be the highest scored by a non-cricket themed sport.
It has been estimated that multiple franchises have paid almost 250000+ dollars to purchase the right to run the teams taking part in the PKL. This can majorly be attributed to the fact that the stockpile of impressions garnered in the PKL 2019 season was 1.2 billion, which sets a high bar of viewership for all non-cricket-related sports.
Though the IPL is a glamorous yet strikingly competitive sport that is showered with adoration and worship by not just the local population of India but also top-tier celebrities owning multiple IPL teams, the PKL is drawing closer to the appraisal in terms of popularity and viewership.
The PKL might not necessarily win the competition against IPL but is definitely proving to be a sport that is worth being in the same league as how we view the IPL with utmost respect and love for the core identities of both sports.
