The opening day Vivo Pro Kabaddi Season 5 has registered a cumulative reach of over 50 million registering a jump of over 59 per cent over the inaugural day of Season 4 of the tournament.
This has been a season of many firsts for Pro Kabaddi as four new franchises joined the existing eight this season widening the geographical representation of the league to reach across 11 states.
More than 130 matches spread across 13 weeks, strengthen Vivo Pro Kabaddi’s status as India’s biggest non-cricketing sports league.
With the introduction of Star Sports First, India’s first free-to-air (FTA) private sports channel, and SS1 Tamil, a first of its kind dedicated regional sports channel in India, Star Sports has allowed for India’s own sport to reach out to the growing number of Kabaddi enthusiasts across the nation.
Sanjay Gupta, MD, Star India said, “I believe this is the first big year for sports beyond cricket. The spectacular growth in viewership for Kabaddi is testament to this journey. It is heartening to see the response VIVO Pro Kabaddi has evoked from millions of fans across the country, cutting across geographies and demographics and I am truly overwhelmed by its success and rapid rise.”
The state of Karnataka has contributed significantly with a viewership growth of 137 per cent for Season 5 as compared to Season 4.
The average rating for day 1 showed an increase in other key markets as well with Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra registering a growth of 48 per cent and 22 per cent respectively.