Kabaddi Professional League vs. Indian Premier League | Fusion - WeRIndia

Since the introduction of the Pro Kabaddi League in the year 2014, it has grown immensely. It is currently in competition with popular games like cricket and football. Despite numerous assumptions about ancient origins, Kabaddi became a competitive sport in the 1920s. It got presented in the Indian Olympics and Asian Games in the 20th century without much fan following.

The director of Mashal Sports, Charu Sharma, first recognized the potential of Kabaddi in the year 2014 which put the sports on the competitive map of the world-famous sports. Mashal Sports and Star Sports created a new edition of the Indian sports franchise called the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL). They made Kabaddi worthwhile and increased its commercial gains. Currently, the game gets followed by the thousands of people of India.

Even though it is difficult to compete with the biggest cricket tournament, such as the Indian Premier League, the success of the PKL has been in conversation ever since. With the growth of the Indian Super League, the competition among the major sports of India has intensified.

Social Network

IPL has some of the most popular and best cricketers, which is the major attraction for the fans globally. However, it is not the same for PKL. It is possible to prove this by the stats collected over the years. It is not surprising that it topped the Twitter following list, as it held its lead for six years in the remaining two leagues. However, regardless of IPL, PKL has more than 300,000 followers on Twitter. Since Kabaddi is the local sport of India and hardly gets followed outside India, the sport has not been able to increase its following like the other major leagues.

Ratings

By the end of PKL’s first season in 2014, it got announced that the number of viewers reached 435 million. The final viewership was a staggering 86.4 million. ISL saw 429 million in its inaugural season that same year. Broadcaster Star Sports has proven itself to be the best TV marketer, playing a significant role in the growth of IPL, showing short and clear narrative videos, laser shows, and encouraging players to improve their image. Since then, Kabaddi has not seen a failure. The fourth season of PKL saw viewership increase by 51%.

Although PKL’s popularity is at stake, Star Sports has ensured it remains popular among the masses. In 2018, PKL Season 6 was postponed from July to October and October to January to accommodate the Asian Games and Kabbadi Masters. Besides the showdown between the tournament and the cricket season in India, spectator fatigue reduced the number of spectators for the first time, but the decline was short-lived. Despite the postponement of the 2020 edition, there is still some belief that PKL is now entrenched and that fans will continue to join.

Revenue

There was a general shock when it got declared toward the finish of the PKL’s first season in 2014 that it had amassed an aggregate of 435m watchers. The final match alone was watched by 86.4m people. The IPL got seen by 560m viewers some months back, scarcely a triumph, with the ISL witnessed by 429m in its debut season in the very year. Considerably and more surprisingly, the numbers have ended up being no fleeting sensation.

Star Sports had effectively demonstrated themselves to be sublime TV advertisers, assuming a colossal part in the development of the IPL. They put short, sharp explainer recordings, laser shows and urged players to hone up their social skills. The seeds that were planted in Season 1 have generated results since. Television viewership for kabaddi – a game that many individuals had never watched nor looked into – is presently effectively beating football and isn’t far from cricket.

Season 4 of the PKL, the second version of the tournament to be played in 2016, saw an 51% increment in viewership from Season 1. In any event, when the prevalence of the PKL has got compromised, the efforts put by Star Sports in 2014 have helped it through. In 2018, the sixth season of the PKL got pushed back from its typical July-October cycle to October-due to the Asian Games and Kabaddi Masters.

Crowd weariness coupled with the league conflicting with India’s home cricket season implied that viewership plunged interestingly – however that plunge didn’t keep going long. The tournament got back in form in 2019, overtaking the ISL with 1.2bn impressions.