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Chennai Super Kings: (image source : BCCI)
Chennai’s popularity as a sports franchise in India is second to none. Chennai is the most consistent and second most successful franchise in the history of the Indian T20 League. Out of 14 editions, Chennai have managed to win the title on four occasions, despite not playing in two editions. All those titles have come under the leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
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In a recent survey conducted by media consulting firm Ormax Media, it has been revealed that Chennai is the biggest sports franchise in India. According to the survey, Chennai have as many as 40.9 million fans in India.
Interestingly, out of 40.9 million fans, 22.5 million people are almost the same followers that loves the sport of Football in India. The report further says that fans are quite emotionally attached to the franchise. They actively take part in the online conversations around the players and the franchise.
Overall, Cricket in India has the most number of fans. With 124.2 million fans, Cricket is, unarguably, the most popular sport in the country. It is followed by Kabaddi, Wrestling, and Football. All the sports have an estimated 23-28 million fans each.
As far as Football is concerned, Barcelona has the most number of fans (3.9 million) in India. Among the ten most popular sportspersons in India, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi find their name on the list. Besides, seven are cricketers and the one is Badminton star, PV Sindhu.
As far as viewing behavior is concerned, 44 percent of people watch sports live on TV, while 36 percent of them are using both traditional and digital media to watch live sports. Besides, the remaining 20 percent of people watch the games exclusively on digital platforms.
Shailesh Kapoor, Founder & CEO, Ormax Media, said: “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. 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”.