Chennai Super Kings has highest fan loyalty: Rediffusion Red Lab

According to the study, CSK is followed by a distant second Mumbai Indians, with RCB taking up the third spot.

Rediffusion’s Red Lab which tracks consumer behaviour, has rated Chennai Super Kings (CSK) as No. 1 in fandom at the close of the current IPL. Mumbai Indians are a not-so-close second while Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are a distant third on the list. The Rediffusion Red Lab team tracked and analysed fan involvement of all teams over the past two months, interviewing, meeting, and interacting with 1213 fans of all the ten teams that played in the tournament.

What is fandom? It is simply fan loyalty to a team.

How is fandom calculated? The first sign is hand-raising or clear identification - Yes, I support this team. Keeping track of the favourite team’s scores or performance is the first stage of belongingness. Watching the team matches on television or staying abreast with its live play on digital is the next layer. ‘The team and its players are in my conversations with family and friends’ cements fandom further. Buying merchandise and going to the stadium to watch and cheer the choice team is the acme of fandom.

CSK tops the score at 79%. MI are at 72% while RCB lag at 61%. Of the new teams, Gujarat Titans (GT) have not done badly with a 58% score that places them at fifth place, just a notch behind 4th ranked Kolkata Knight Riders who scored 59%.

Sunrisers Hyderabad (32%) are last in the rankings and Delhi Capitals at 37% are second last at the tail.

"This is a study of the glue that binds a team and its fans. The IPL has been around for 16 years now - sufficient time has elapsed for choices to be made, loyalty to be shaped and for fans to either love a team or be indifferent to it," says Dr. Sandeep Goyal, managing director of Rediffusion.

Interestingly 42% of CSK’s fan base is from outside of Chennai. So, loyalty is not driven by city or geographical affiliation or residence alone. Not surprisingly 72% fans attribute their affinity and preference for CSK to MS Dhoni. Rohit Sharma at MI is way lower at 23% but Virat Kohli scores better at 51% for RCB. For Lucknow Giants (LG), KL Rahul does well at 49%.

Fandom, feels Dr. Goyal, is also a function of team success. The success of CSK, MI and the quick rise of GT have endeared them to their fans.

Rediffusion’s Red Lab tracks trends across genres. This study was conducted across all 10 IPL team franchisee locations.