Pro Kabaddi League on Star Sports ignites festive cheer for advertisers

The league reached 351 million viewers in 2023, with 65% viewership coming from premium NCCS AB households. 

With the festive season fast approaching, advertisers are busy finalizing media plans to acquire and retain customers. The upcoming eleventh season of the Pro Kabaddi League, launching mid-October, offers a prime platform for brands to strategically unveil new products, amplify festive promotions, enter new markets, and elevate their premium positioning. The last edition of Pro Kabaddi League reached a whopping 351 million viewers, achieving a 20% growth from the preceding edition. A large part of this reach was driven by premium audiences with 65% coming from NCCS AB households. What makes Pro Kabaddi League unique is the high-octane format and the collective viewing experience of the sport, commanding a watch-time of over 50% - higher than most other sports on live broadcast.  

Reasons that make Pro Kabaddi League Season 11 on Star Sports the biggest festive media plan for advertisers: 

1. Reach the Young and Affluent at Scale: Through its 10 editions, Pro Kabaddi League has managed to capture the attention of the youth, reigniting passion for India’s homegrown sport. In the previous edition, 70% of the league’s reach on TV came from viewers below 40 years of age. 65% of TV viewership of Season 11 was from NCCS AB households while the league’s viewership in megacities witnessed a massive 57% growth. 

2. Leader Across Genres during Festive: Year on year, Pro Kabaddi League has achieved leadership on television across genres, showcasing supremacy over leading impact shows. In HSM, PKL delivered a reach of 195 million, 1.75-2X of top programs including reality shows, quiz shows and talents. Similarly in South markets (TN, AP, Karnataka), PKL reached 155 million viewers, a massive 2-3X of other genres. During the festive season, active categories like FMCG, automobile and e-commerce can leverage this scale to garner incremental audiences for their brands. 

3. Unlock Superior ROI: PKL on TV continues to deliver high return on investment for advertisers across categories with massive uplifts along the brand funnel during their association. 

• A leading FMCG brand that associated with Pro Kabaddi League last season witnessed 43% increase in sales on a leading e-commerce platform during the season, followed by 149% increase in e-commerce enquiries and a 42% increase in google searches for the product advertised. 

• An adhesive brand that was a sponsor with the league last season witnessed a 14X return on investment through their association, with the TV association delivering a 36% growth in search queries and 56% increase in website traffic. Key brand metrics witnessed massive uplifts with the brand’s consideration growing 192% while purchase intent grew by a staggering 206%. 

4. Truly Integrated Sponsorships: Pro Kabaddi League offers a differential opportunity for sponsors like no other sporting league in India, combining the might of on-air, on-ground, access to players across teams, digital and social media to provide a high impact integrated platform for brands. Sponsorships with Pro Kabaddi League continue to provide the highest return on investment for brands, with associate sponsorships delivering a media value of 14X the investment, as per a study by Intelensa. 

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5. Immersive Brand Opportunities on Live Broadcast: The live broadcast of Pro Kabaddi League offers deep integration opportunities for advertisers. From ownership of high impact moments during matches, to Picture-In-Picture Ads that allow brands to seamlessly integrate their TVCs without going into commercial breaks and contextual augmented reality graphics as live game intervention - Star Sports delivers an immersive brand experience for viewers.

Pro Kabaddi League is a celebration of India’s very own sport and the timing of the league merging with the festive season makes the 11th edition a powerful media solution for brands across categories looking to drive premiumization and achieve scale.