BLOG | by Joseph Eapen ... Our data gives a resounding ‘yes’. The pre-Christmas Indian Premier League (IPL) player auction fires the pistol for the start of a season which is still three months away. Truth be told, interest in the league is never far beneath the surface of India’s sporting conversation.
BLOG | by Joseph Eapen ... In the weeks when there’s no cricket being played out, soccer in India can be the country’s most-watched sport. Although TV audiences don’t tend to get close to the country’s favourite pastime – watching T20 cricket – it’s testament to the Indian Super League’s organisers that a competition which is only five years old can achieve such a profile.
BLOG | by Joseph Eapen ... A definite pecking order now seems to have been established in Indian sport, according to the data we collect every day in India as part of our SportsIndex service. As you would expect, cricket is at the top of that ranking. The percentage of Indians who have ever watched the IPL soars away at 71%. But while the IPL dominates the Indian market, it has not put other sports completely in the shade.
BLOG | by Joseph Eapen ... If I asked you to think of the traditional homes of distance running, I suspect you’d be pretty far down your list before you got to India. Yet in January next year, more than 45,000 runners will gather in Mumbai for Asia’s largest long-distance race – the Tata Mumbai Marathon. In short, long-distance running is growing fast in India.
BLOG | by Joseph Eapen ... With the VIVO IPL now well underway, we thought it was time to start looking at its performance for sponsors. Let’s take a quick look at some of the data we’ve collected around the tournament based on what we’ve seen so far.
BLOG | by Joseph Eapen ... When David James’s Kerala Blasters kicked off Hero Indian Super League’s fifth season against Steve Coppell’s ATK in September, organisers were no doubt hoping to build on the success of the last season. But this year, as well as playing against each other, ISL teams will also be facing new competition – the burgeoning Vivo Pro Kabaddi League.
BLOG | by Joseph Eapen ... New figures released today by YouGov Sport/SMG Insight show that awareness of Indian domestic sporting properties is blossoming, with 13 different leagues or tournaments being familiar to at least 10% of the Indian population. • PKL gives IPL run for its money but many other sports have good visibility. This continues our series of research we are conducting into the Indian sports market.
BLOG | by Joseph Eapen ... In data we can release today, we unveil India’s favourite Indian Premier League (IPL) teams and players. In a survey conducted by YouGov Sport (SMG Insight), Chennai Super Kings come out on top – the favourite team of a remarkable one in three of those we asked. This continues our series of research we are conducting into the Indian sports market.
BLOG | by Joseph Eapen ... New data collected by YouGov/SMG Insight has revealed that Indians take pride in a wide range of non-cricketing sporting achievements – despite opinions to the contrary. The polling uncovers that, even amid a sea of cricketing coverage, there are plenty of sporting stories which break through to register with the public - making Indians proud of a wide range of achievements.
BLOG | by Joseph Eapen ... The list of established sports which have secured a five-fold increase in the value of consecutive sponsorship deals is not a long one. So when mobile manufacturer Vivo renewed its title sponsorship of the Indian Premier League last year, it came as a surprise to many that its rights holder, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), had secured a 554% uplift in the value of the contract. The size of Vivo’s winning bid raised eyebrows. But, as we can show, put into context, there was a strong case for a big increase in deal value. Let's see why.
