ISL 2017: Viewership from first three weeks 20% more than entire FIFA U-17 World Cup
MUMBAI, December 11, 2017: Following a spectacular opening - both on television and Hotstar - The Hero Indian Super League Season 4 has set a new viewership record on Star Sports. Three weeks since its opening, the league has recorded a cumulative reach of 81 million* viewers. This reach is 20% higher when compared to the entire viewership of the 52 games of the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017, which had a cumulative reach of 68 million viewers.
The cumulative viewership in urban areas was 45 million, while rural areas recorded 36 million viewers for a period of 3 weeks. In terms of total billion minutes of viewing, the league aggregated 36% higher viewership as compared to the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017
A Star India spokesperson said, “It is thrilling to see the ISL 2017 set new benchmarks in the world of football. The response that the league has received from football fans across India is very encouraging. It is the biggest season in the history of the league, and we look forward to the teams as they progress and continue to put up a stellar competition.”
The opening game of Hero Indian Super League Season 4 recorded 7.4 million average impressions; which is double the India v/s USA opening game at U-17 FIFA World Cup 2017.
ISL Season 4 began on 17 November and can be watched live on Star Sports network and Hotstar. A total of 95 matches will be played in the 2017-18 season between 10 teams including two additional teams - Bengaluru FC and Jamshedpur FC. Each out of 10 teams will play in a home-and-away format in 90 games. The two-legged semi-finals of the ISL league are scheduled to take place in the second week of March 2018.
*Source: BARC, All India 2+U+R