Cashing in on sports

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In a country where cricket truly reigns as a spectator sport—the recent ICC World Twenty20 final between India and Pakistan touched an average TVR (television viewership rating) of 21.4—other sports are still playing catch-up. But over the years, there has been a growing interest in Formula 1, soccer—particularly, the English and Spanish leagues—tennis (grand slams), motor sport, hockey and golf.

On weekdays, for example, even as the latest matches from the European Champions League get underway post-midnight, they are shown live on cable and satellite TV, keeping fans glued to the box, despite the late hour. “We have seen the emergence of ‘multi-sports fans’ in the country,” admits RC Venkateish, MD, ESPN Software India. “We are continuously evolving with our audience, learning their preferences and changing their viewing habits,” he adds.

Consider this: For ESPN-Star Sports, three tennis grand slams in 2007—Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon, put together reached out to a cumulative audience of 42.4 million individuals in cable and satellite households (C&S HHs), which is a healthy 20% increase over 2006. For Barclays Premier League—the English soccer league, untill now in 2007, every second individual in the metros in cable and satellite (C&S) homes has already sampled the matches, with another month to go before this calendar year ends.

Meanwhile, the premier hockey league (PHL) in India has shown a continued growth in viewership over the past three years. While there has been an overall increase of 116% since 2005, the third season of PHL has reached out to 9.2 million people, up from 4.6 million last year. The event has seen growth across all markets, particularly in metros where the growth has been about 60% since last year.

When it come to motor car-racing, the Formula 1 has gained significant popularity over the years and particularly, among the top metros and higher socio-economic categories (SECs) can be seen from the ratings—they are as high as 4.7—for the Belgium grand prix, followed by 1.9 for the French GP.

At Ten Sports too, while Rukin Kizilbash, general manager, Taj Television India, agrees that while in India cricket still rules, other sport like world wrestling entertainment (WWE), soccer, tennis and hockey are being followed avidly by viewers, “proving that there is indeed life outside cricket in India”.