Mumbai: India has a sports fan base of 136.3 million, according to the latest report by Ormax Media.
A sports fan is defined as someone who has watched a sport on TV or OTT in the last month for at least 30 minutes.
In terms of viewing behaviour, the report found that 44 per cent of Indian sports fans watch live sports only on TV while a sizeable 36 per cent are using both traditional and digital media to watch live sports. The remaining 20 per cent are watching exclusively on digital.
Cricket has a fan base of 124.2 million followed closely by Kabaddi, Wrestling (including WWE) and football with 23-28 million fans each. The study also found that Chennai Super Kings is the biggest sports franchise in India with 40.9 million fans. It has a loyal fan base of 22.5 million that is defined as someone who feels emotionally connected with the team and its results.
The report also looked at the various football clubs and their fan following. It found that Barcelona FC tops the list with 3.9 million fans. Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi feature in the list of the top ten most popular sportspersons in India. The list also includes seven cricketers and Badminton star PV Sindhu.
“Viewership numbers, especially from television, are not an accurate representation of the fanbase of any sport, as India is predominantly a single-TV nation where a lot of sports viewing is passive in nature,” said Ormax Media founder and CEO Shailesh Kapoor.
“Through this report, we aim to fill in the need gap for reliable data on the size and the profile of the ‘real’ sports fans, who are actively watching and engaged with the sport. The report can provide useful material to sports leagues, teams and broadcasters for their brand and communication strategy initiatives," he added.
Ormax Media’s report is the outcome of consumer research conducted over the six-month period from July to December 2021 with a sample size of 12,000 people across urban and rural India. The report profiles these ‘fans’ by age, gender, NCCS, pop strata and states. It also covers the preferred commentary languages in India, reported by various geographies and demographics.
