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A comparative study on the viewership of different professional leagues in

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Article in The International Sports Law Journal · August 2023

DOI: 10.1007/s40318-023-00243-8

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The International Sports Law Journal
https://doi.org/10.1007/s40318-023-00243-8

ARTICLE

A comparative study on the viewership of different professional

leagues in India
Akash Shukla1 · Deepak Kumar Dogra2 · Debraj Bhattacharya3 · Satish Gulia4 · Rekha Sharma5

Accepted: 3 July 2023

© T.M.C. Asser Instituut 2023

Abstract
Many new sports markets, particularly in developing nations, have seen the rise of sports leagues for about the first time. This
may be the first study to look into sports leagues in their early stages of development and discover elements that contribute
to their success. As a result, the characteristics of professional sports league viewership growth in India are estimated in
this study. The impacts of team quality and outcome uncertainty on the characteristics of selected professional sports league
attendance in India are investigated in this study. The main goal of the study was to compare the viewership of different
professional leagues, i.e., Indian Premier League (IPL), Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), Indian Super League (ISL), and Pro
Wrestling League (PWL). The secondary data of the first 5 years of the viewership of these leagues were taken to compare
their success, which was obtained from different sources like BRAC reports, leagues’ websites, news articles, Duff and
Pheleps reports, and team sports stars. The data on the Viewership of the leagues were recorded in a population of millions.
Further, study the sociological and economic factors influencing watching pro-league sports. With the raw data structure
of the dependent variable and independent variable considered in this study, the Tobit model was used. Further, descriptive
statistics were used to analyze the viewership. Viewership (population in millions), increased viewership (population in mil-
lions) all the year, and increased viewership percentage difference (between the years) were represented in separate tables
of all the mentioned leagues. Based on the results and findings, it was concluded that the Pro Kabaddi League witnessed the
highest viewership (i.e., in the first 5 years of the league) in contrast to the Indian Premier League, Indian Super League,
and Pro Wrestling League which are discussed in a detailed manner. As a result, the consequences of team management
and league policy are examined, as well as future study objectives on professional sports leagues and viewership demand.

Keywords Professional sports league · IPL · ISL · PKL · PWL · Viewership · BRAC​· Commercialization · Broadcast

* Akash Shukla
akashshukla7275700@gmail.com 1 Introduction
Deepak Kumar Dogra
dr.dkdogra74@gmail.com The last decade has seen a large growth in the sports indus-
try, as there has been a rise in the marketing of sports as well
Satish Gulia
satishgulia12345@gmail.com as a rise in sports being used for marketing (Fullerton and
Merz 2008). The development of sports has also received
Rekha Sharma
drrekhasharma1984@gmail.com support from the governments as it is said to increase the
societal and economic welfare of the country, as well as a
1
Research Scholar, Department of Physical Education, chance to market the state on a worldwide front (Nauright
Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, U.P, India 2004).
2
Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Education, In contrast, the viewership and sponsorship of non-cricket
Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, U.P, India professional sports leagues (tennis, badminton, football, and
3
Research Scholar, Department of Physical Education, kabaddi) are rising at a rapid rate in India (Khondker and
Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, U.P, India Robertson 2018). Compared to the developed markets, the
4
Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Education, Janta growth of such sporting tournaments is a relatively new phe-
Degree College, Patla (Ghaziabad), U.P, India nomenon in an emerging sports market like India (Tripathi
5
Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Education and Kapoor 2017). In today’s digital era, multiple sports
and sports sciences, Lakshmibai College, University marketers have benefited using social media channels to
of Delhi, Delhi, India

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 The International Sports Law Journal

popularize their tournaments (Felix et al. 2017). However, MLS in U.S. professional sports, local broadcast viewer-
more research is needed to help sports marketers make ship patterns are also of interest. Furthermore, despite the
effective use of social media communications. Specifically, well-known increase in average attendance for MLS teams,
research determining the factors leading to fans’ involve- little is known about the general local viewership size across
ment and engagement in the online community is required. markets
This is because fans’ involvement and online community Broadcast and media rights are one of the most important
engagement are crucial for the success of the sporting event. sources of earning money for sporting events. Indian cricket
As per the AT Kearney [Collignon 2011] report, the has earned a lot through TV and radio broadcasting rights
sports industry in both mature and emerging economies has year after year, but now the Internet has become a new way
been growing at a rate faster than the GDP. As of 2011, of broadcasting through the software of various TV chan-
the dimensions of the industry were estimated at 620 bil- nels, which has immensely increased the number of viewers
lion US dollars growing at a rate of 6%. While the sports not even in cricket only but also in other sports and profes-
industry has traditionally been strong in the developed coun- sional leagues of sports too. Regional games packaged in
tries of North America and Europe, lately, a major push has interesting league formats have been successful in garner-
been coming from emerging markets. AT Kearney reported ing rural viewership as well in India. Broadcast Audience
that all the BRIC nations have shown impressive growth Research Council (BARC) India reported that the rural con-
(India—17%, China—20%, Brazil—7%, and Russia—53%). tribution to the number of impressions was as high as 45%
The growth of sports in developing countries has also been in the sports genre and this trend is consistent across new
marked by the increase of sports leagues in several sports. sports leagues as well. For this reason, researchers have cho-
Another reason for such growth is increased economic activ- sen this study to examine the most popular sports league in
ity associated with sports, which involves leveraging sports India in terms of viewership. This study is covered in these
to market goods, as well as the marketing of sports itself to sections as follows: Section 2 focuses on the research survey,
create consumer (fan) value. A league championship with a Section 3 states the context of this study, Section 4 presents
good competitive balance is a priori more attractive, since the methodologies and the data considered here, Section 4
uncertainty in the final result increases the public’s interest, describes the results and discussions with the viewership
positively influencing the different revenues made by the calculations, and finally, the research conclusion covers in
league’s participating clubs such as the revenues generated the last section.
by the ticket office, stadium operations, sponsorships, and
the broadcasting rights.
Sharma (2017) reported that Television Broadcasting 2 Literature survey
companies sensed that in a country of 1.2 billion people
and 800+ channels, the competition to attract viewers may The sports industry in India has further been revolutionized
be tough, but the one thing that unites the nation regardless by the introduction of online gaming and fantasy leagues.
of which demographic group they belong to or dialect they Online gaming has seen an exponential growth of 250 mil-
speak is sports. Television channels have not only increased lion players in 2018 as opposed to 20 million players in
viewership by broadcasting league matches but even have 2010, while a similar growth pattern was experienced by
increased the telecast time of every sporting event. The two online game development companies that have escalated
broadcasting leaders Star India and Sony Pictures Network from 25 to 250 from 2010 to 2018 (The evolving landscape
India contributed immensely to the growth of the leagues. of sports gaming in India, KPMG 2019).
Star India and Sony Pictures Network India televise the The sports business has witnessed significant changes in
league numerous times, on multiple channels and in multi- the last few decades. Globalization has fueled a shift in the
ple language feeds whose broadcasting rights are owned by dynamics of the sports industry, with the rise of developing
them. With the support of powerful committed networks, the countries as major stakeholders. Sports provide a unique
business of professional sports leagues has multiplied and opportunity for internationalization as it surpasses the bar-
heroes have “risen” from among the players. riers of verbal communication and provides a common lan-
Nevertheless, by indicating the method follows in this guage for communication (Ratten 2014). Apart from provid-
work has the reference to other country’s sports leagues, ing common appeal to the mass public, the sports business
the study has addressed MLS television viewership and also adds significant economic and societal value. Botha
only uses broadcast ratings at the national level (Paul et al. (2013) studied links between national sporting suc-
and Weinbach 2013). This dearth of inquiry has resulted cesses and their economic impact in Africa. The impact of
in an inability to segment the market by home and away sports on tourism, human capital development, and infra-
fans, as has been done in prior work in other leagues (Xu structure has been studied by many researchers (Baade and
et al. 2015; Sung et al. 2017). Given the niche market of Dye 1990; Kurtzman 2005; Shmanske 1992), and because of

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such a variety of influences, the governments have actively can help leagues be more effective in reaching out to their
sought sports as a means of development and a way to high- consumers. The aspect of merchandising and revenue man-
light nation’s capability. Sports contribute to nations in their agement from ticket sales has been studied by Nagel et al.,
economic, social, cultural, and political developments, and respectively. Some studies have examined competitive
performance in sports at the international level has become dynamics across leagues. Thatcher et al. studied the alle-
a matter of national and political prestige. Apart from being giance behavior of fans for European football teams, show-
an economic engine, the sports business also provides an ing that allegiance is not restricted to teams within leagues
opportunity for entrepreneurial ventures by providing a plat- but also across leagues. Moreover, there is research which
form for innovation and value creation. This has also been suggests that competitive dynamics across leagues influence
emphasized that sports (as a business) have now matured to fans’ loyalty and fans’ substitute preferences across leagues.
be systematically studied and should not be relegated only Wooten et al. studied the impact of a new league introduc-
to sociology or psychology (Madichie 2009). It has been felt tion in a city on current attendance levels.
that this academic discipline is understudied and prominent According to Kafkas et al. (2012), a fan is enthusiastic
researchers have emphasized that more research needs to be about a particular sport or athlete. Cassidy et al. (2005) elu-
done in this domain. cidate that ‘fan’, the shortened form of the word ‘fanatic’,
Sports leagues provide a rich context for research and expresses enthusiasm, passion, and eagerness and even
there have been several studies in this domain. Most of the “moving beyond reason”. Barker et al. (1998) highlight the
work has examined the difference between the various types term ‘Home Field advantage’ which has a huge impact on
of league formats. Klein (2018) investigated the differences sports nowadays. Passionate sports fans can uplift athletes
between the open and closed systems of leagues and studied and players by transferring their emotional support to players
the impact of structure on the overall economic outcomes of through cheering. The literature on fan acceptability and the
the female football game in Europe. Similarly, there is also success of leagues is relatively scarce. Dwyer et al. (2011)
research on the extent of social welfare created by profit- indicate that different leagues, such as major and minor
maximizing and win-maximizing leagues. Interestingly, the leagues, attract different consumer sets, and therefore, these
existing research compared sports leagues with industrial leagues may need to use different marketing approaches to
organizations from the perspective of market structure, reach out to their consumers. In a study that explored the
labor, compensation, etc. Revenue sharing is an important acceptability of Major League Baseball in Japan, James
aspect of the league’s financial structure. Models of revenue et al. (2009) identified that fan interest is driven by an over-
sharing between leagues and teams have been studied by all interest in baseball, interest in players, and the quality
Salaga et al. (2014) which highlights the cartelization of of games.
the game by successful leagues. Such league structures can
also lead to problems of overinvestment (and hence poor 2.1 Experts
financial management), depending upon the balance of com-
petition, exogenous prizes, etc. The impact of several reve- The sports league landscape in India is dynamic and some
nue-sharing policies on competitive balance has also been leagues are in the early stage of development. Of the 16
studied by Baade et al. (2014) where authors emphasize the professional leagues, 12 were launched in the last 4 years.
relationship between competitive balance and revenue shar- Defining the success of leagues is complex, since success
ing. Apart from revenue-sharing models, research on spend- can be measured on diverse parameters like profitability, fan
ing and its relation to the promotion/relegation of teams in following, sponsorship revenues, etc. For mature leagues,
an open system of the league has been studied by Dietl et al. financial performance is relatively easy to evaluate, but for
(2015). Likewise, models proposed by several researchers young leagues, assessment of success is not easy, since it
have added to the literature related to sports marketing in the takes some time for leagues to become profitable. Moreo-
areas of salary caps, revenue sharing, competitive balance, ver, there is a lack of public data on financial parameters,
economic competition, etc. which makes any evaluation difficult. Hence, the authors
Marketing aspects of sports leagues have also attracted relied on experts in the field of sports/sports management to
the attention of researchers. The research by Kunkel et al. understand factors related to the success of the leagues. As
(2014) highlights the brand relationships between the parent the study explored predetermined themes, semi-structured
league and associated teams. It emphasizes the need for a interviews were considered appropriate for the data collec-
complementary association between brands of leagues and tion (Gratton and Jones 2014; Allen‐Collinson 2009). Notes
teams. Further work done by Kunkel identifies several brand were taken during interviews and these were expanded after
associations that are attributed to sports leagues. Moreover, interviews to aid analysis. A mix of purposive and snowball
it was found that consumers of major and minor leagues have sampling was employed.
different preferences and cognizance of such differences

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A total of 19 semi-structured interviews were carried out, 3 Context of the study

14 of which were done face to face and five by telephone. In
some cases, further clarifications were sought over emails The research context of this study is the professional sports
or follow-up telephonic calls. Data collection ended when leagues in India. To appreciate the findings, it is important
theoretical saturation was reached. The enquiry using semi- that an understanding of the research context is developed.
structured interviews with experts had two objectives. The Accordingly, this section provides a brief overview of the
first was to understand the landscape of the professional Indian sports landscape by describing the developments
sports leagues in India and to identify successful and unsuc- in key sports and important professional leagues in those
cessful leagues, and the second was to identify factors that sports.
have an impact on the success of the leagues. India, with a population of 1.2 billion, is the second-most
populous country in the world and the seventh-largest coun-
2.2 Fan base for the support try by area. Such a large population has interests in various
sports. India is home to a few traditional sports like Kabaddi,
All the sports are not equally popular; it was seen that fans Kho Kho, etc. The other major sports that are followed in
that played a particular sport currently or in their childhood India are Cricket, Hockey, Football, Badminton, and Tennis.
were more likely to be a fan of that sports league. Thus, The sports industry in India has started to grow with the
people who currently played Cricket or had played it in development of the overall economy and the rise in educa-
their childhood were more likely to be a fan of the Indian tion and income levels of Indian society. This development
Premier League (a cricket league). The connection to the is marked by the growth of the sports industry and the rise
league became easy when the fans could relate to the sport of sports leagues. A brief overview of sports in India, and
as a personal experience (Billings and Ruihley 2013). The the leagues operating within the sports, which are used to
experts also supported that a sports league was more likely study in the viewership study is as follows:
to succeed when the sport has a large base population play- Cricket: Cricket is the most popular sport in India and
ing that sport. A sport with low penetration would need to has a large fan following. The first league, the Indian Cricket
build awareness, and spend much more time attracting fans, League (ICL), was started by the Zee group, a TV broadcast
and thus, the league operating in such a sport will struggle. company. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI),
The analysis of the current leagues also indicated the the national federation of Cricket, did not endorse ICL and
impact of fans and player base on specific sports. In India, banned the players contracted with BCCI to play in ICL. It
Cricket, undoubtedly, has the largest number of followers also exerted pressure on International Cricket Council (ICC),
and players as the game is played all across the country. As the intentional cricket federation, to stop other national fed-
such, the Indian Premier League tends to have the largest fan erations (NFs) from supporting ICL. ICL closed in 2008, 3
base and is considered to be the most successful league in years after it started. The Indian Premier League (under the
the country. The Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) has been one aegis of BCCI) launched in India in 2007 changed the face
of the surprises as it generated record viewership. On the of professional leagues in India and its success has inspired
very first day, PKL attracted 22 million viewers, ten times many other professional leagues across the country. It has
the number of viewers who tuned into the first match of been able to attract the best foreign players from across
the recently concluded FIFA World Cup. In addition, within the globe. As cricket has a busy international season, one
12 h, PKL-related issues received 150 million impressions of the concerns related to IPL has been its scheduling, to
on Twitter along with the substantial Facebook activity. The allow cricketers from various countries to take part in the
experts indicated that one of the reasons for the success of tournament.
the PKL was the fact that though the sport was not as popu- Football: Football has been a fairly popular game in
lar as cricket, it enjoyed immense popularity in rural India India. I-League was started in 2007 by the All India Foot-
and also had a following in urban India. ball Federation (AIFF) to replace National Football League
A detailed literature review on sports leagues indicates which had run for ten seasons without success. I-league has
that some topics have not received sufficient attention. The two divisions and does not have salary caps. The league has
research on factors that contribute to the success of a sports been criticized for the fact that the teams are concentrated
league, especially in a crucial phase of initial development, in select pockets. The popularity of the league has been low.
has not received as much attention as it deserves. Secondly, Indian Super League, had started in October 2014, is the
most of the studies have been set in a North American or result of a partnership between AIFF, Reliance Industries
a European context and the emerging sports markets have Limited, and International Management Group. It will be
largely been ignored. Thus, looking at such research gaps, played with ten teams. The league, even before it started, has
this paper attempts to add to the current body of knowledge
by systematically studying such factors.

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The International Sports Law Journal

received a lot of media coverage because of the signing of

well-known foreign players and the presence of celebrities.
Kabaddi: Kabaddi is a contact sport that originated in
India and has traveled to other countries in the region. Eight
international teams participated in the 2014 Asian Games
in Incheon, South Korea. The game is fairly popular in rural
areas of India. The Indian national team has been dominat-
ing the event and has won ever, since the game was included
in the Asian Games in 1990. Pro Kabaddi League (PKL)
was started in 2014 with eight teams from different cities.
The league is supported by the national and international
Kabaddi federations. It follows a system of salary caps and
the teams are owned by owners who are a mix of people
from the industry, movies, and sports businesses. The first
season of PKL enjoyed unprecedented viewership and
support from fans. Another league in Kabaddi, the World
Kabaddi league is expected to be played between 14 teams
across 4 countries. Many movie stars own teams in this
league.
Wrestling: The PWL was launched in 2015 with much Fig. 1  Architecture of the proposed method
pomp and show. PWL represents a huge leap in the history
of possibly the oldest combat sport in human history. How-
ever, there was a rift between the two partners, and finally, 4.1 Selection of variables
Pro-Sportify puts up a show with the Wrestling Federation
of India with top wrestlers from around the world. How- The independent variable of this study was considered as
ever, the result was non-payment to players, non-payment the amount of viewership of the professional sports leagues
of prize money, non-payment to technical officials, and selected. The dependent variable of this study is the percent-
interference in technical conduct in the first edition of the age drop in household ratings between the highest rating
league itself. during the sports broadcast, and the end of the sports rating
(RatingsDrop). RatingsDrop, therefore, measures the rate of
viewer exits during the progress of the sports leagues. This
4 Data and methodology variable is measured as
RatingPeak − RatingLast
This research aimed to assess and determine the viewership RatingsDrop = ∈ {0, 1}. (1)
success of professional sports leagues in India. Therefore, RatingPeak
this study estimates the success rate of four selected pro-
Here, this study identifies Rating Peak the highest rating
fessional sports leagues in India. Four professional sports
recorded during the broadcast, and Rating Last as the final
leagues, namely, the Indian Premier League (Cricket), Pro
reported rating for the broadcast at the end of the selected
Kabaddi League (Kabaddi), Indian Super League (Soccer),
sports league.
and Pro Wrestling League (Wrestling), in India were selected
This study focuses specifically on RatingsDrop and
as subjects for the present research work. The architecture
understanding the dynamic nature of viewership of selected
of the proposed methodology of this research is illustrated
professional sports leagues in India. By looking at the
in Fig. 1.
changes in ratings throughout the sports league, from the
The cross-sectional study design was depending on the
peak to the end, this study’s estimations can help to under-
viewership of the first 5 years of four different professional
stand the propensity for relative scoring and rivalry charac-
leagues in India. For the selection of the subject of the
teristics of a given sports league to retain viewership relative
present study, purposive sampling technique was applied.
to sports not featuring a rival. The moderating impact of the
Table 1 shows the inclusion and exclusion criteria.
relative score is of particular interest, which would not be
The data were collected from the selected Indian pro-
well estimated in the context of aggregate ratings across the
fessional sports leagues' official websites and other online
entire league. Therefore, the study adds to the literature by
sources. The Internet was used as a tool to collect the desired
further elucidating the dynamic behavior of fan viewership
data for the present research work for the final analysis.
in these selected sports leagues, and provides evidence of

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 The International Sports Law Journal

Table 1  Inclusion and exclusion Criteria Inclusion Exclusion

criteria
Sample Professional sports leagues All professional leagues outside of India
of india
Sample size Four leagues Less than 4 leagues & more than 4 leagues
Survey area India Every country except India
Language of study English Non-English

best practices in maximizing sustained viewership in other- down due to poor weather. The latter implies that broad-
wise neutral markets. cast viewership may serve as a direct substitute for game
In general, this study specifies the following demand attendance in certain situations.
function in explaining the dependent variables mentioned The study includes dummy fixed effects for Network,
above, RatingsDrop as: DayOfWeek, WeekOfSeason, Season, Market, and each of
the competing teams (Team) in both estimations. Further,
RDijt = f (GCijt , FEijt , CVijt , Eijt ), (2) this research includes control variables describing several
where RD is the rating drop-dependent variable for the team game quality characteristics. First, the total next win percent-
i competing against a team j(i ≠ j) in season t. The depend- age of the two competing teams entering the game (Total-
ent variable of this study is then explained by the linear WinPct), and the summed win percentage of the two teams
function of f (⋅) with game characteristics’ vector (GC), fixed in the prior year (TotalLagWinPct) are used to identify the
effect dummy variables vector (FE), economic characteris- effects of the total game quality on RatingsDrop. The sum of
tics (E), and contention descriptive vector (CV), in which winning percentages of the competing teams quantifies the
this study’s central interest lies. Each of these characteris- absolute expected quality of a game for the first 5 years of
tics can include various variables, such as weather (GC), every professional sports league selected here.
home win probability (FE), home and away team quality or The use of the next season’s winning percentages pre-
records in the standings (CV), and income (E). The empiri- cludes the use of the first game of each season, and there-
cal specification directly estimates the linear parameters of fore, these observations are dropped from the samples
GC, FE, and CV. taken. Further, the study includes the absolute value of
the difference between win percentages for the two teams
in the next season at the time of the game (AbsWinDiff),
4.2 Control variables and the difference in their win percentages at the end of
the prior season (AbsLagWinDiff) to account for the rela-
Relative quality for surveyed viewership demand inquiry tive team quality levels in the game and proxy expecta-
refers to the closeness of competition at the game level. tions about uncertainty in the game outcome. The work
Absolute quality then refers to accumulated team perfor- further includes the sum of the total number of seasons in
mance or current season performance. Although the league existence for each of the two teams in the game to control
as a whole could suffer from the occurrence of a single dom- for general historical impacts of fan interest (TotalAge).
inant team, fans likely prefer their local team to be at least This historical component can account for the established
slightly better than the competition. Furthermore, there is familiarity of an old team or originality of a new team
prior evidence that local fans also have an interest in high within the league to the fans and increased match fre-
absolute quality away teams. quency, which in turn affect the fan behavior in watch-
The research notes that game characteristics can include ing rival teams’ games. Finally, the research includes the
information on weather, superstars, or the time of day margin of victory (ScoreMargin) and squared margin of
in which the game is televised. This study hypothesizes victory ­( ScoreMargin 2) in each game to identify score
that superstar athletes will have a significant and posi- margin impacts on viewership loss throughout the con-
tive impact on viewership and rivalry. Additionally, the test. Furthermore, the estimation of this demand model
study expects higher ratings for games scheduled during formalizes in the following section.
primetime, for teams in older stadiums and teams with a
long history in their respective market. Finally, research- 4.2.1 Model estimation
ers hypothesize that local sell-outs or poor weather will
increase broadcast ratings for home markets. Specifically, The structure of this raw data calls for the use of a Tobit
the broadcast of a game on television may absorb excess model due to the range of the dependent variable noted
demand beyond the local stadium’s capacity or allow above. In particular, the variable is censored at zero,
for alternative consumption when viewing quality goes and therefore, the study must estimate the model by first

13
The International Sports Law Journal

identifying the conditional probability of the latent change in for games starting between 19:00 and 21:45 in a given mar-
demand, y∗ ≤ 0. The research address this limited dependent ket. The home (away) team fixed effects are represented by
variable problem using the classical Tobit model, as estima- 𝜃i ( 𝜃j ), yearly effects by 𝜏t , and monthly and day-of-week
tion with a non-negative dependent variable would result effects by 𝜇 and 𝛿 , respectively.
in inconsistent coefficient estimation. The Tobit model is
weighted with this conditional density, and estimated 4.3 Sociological and economic factors influencing
y∗i = 𝛽j xi + 𝜀i , with an error term 𝜀i ∼ N[0, 𝜎 2 ]. In this way, viewers
estimates of RatingsDrop cannot be expected to be below
zero, and the coefficients are properly estimated and applied Social influence has been summarized as the change in one’s
within the given range of the dependent variable. beliefs, behavior, or attitudes due to external pressure that
The natural log of home and away average Nielsen ratings may be real or imagined. In this article, the study focuses on
for each game was used as the dependent variable in two the question of how (sports-relevant) behavior and athletic
nearly identical regression models to compare viewership performances are influenced by others. This study was con-
behavior between home fans of the home market (HomeM- ducted using a descriptive research design. The study was
ktRating) and away market (AwayMktRating) as follows: cross-sectional. Along these lines, an online structured ques-
tionnaire (using Google forms) was created and administered
In (HomeMktRatinggijt ) to respondents. The study suggested that three behavioral
= 𝛽0 + 𝛽1 Win Pr obgijt + 𝛽2 Win Pr ob2gijt beliefs-related factors and subjective norms were positively
related to attitudes toward watching eSports. The researcher
+ 𝛽3 HELOgijt + 𝛽4 AELO + 𝛽5 sELOgt
administered an online survey to investigate factors influenc-
+ 𝛽6 HDPit + 𝛽7 ADPjt + 𝛽8 Rivalryij + 𝛽9 HLagWinPctgi ing the behavior of watching Sports leagues. A total of 255
+ 𝛽10 Cablegij + 𝛽11 Pr imetimegij + 𝛽12 HAgeit respondents were reached in the survey. Seven-point Likert
scales ranging from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree”
+ 𝛽13 AAgejt + 𝛽14 StadiumAgeit + 𝛽15 Selloutgij
were adapted from previous studies for all the variables.
+ 𝛽16 HIncit + 𝜃i + 𝜔g + 𝜏t + 𝜇g + 𝛿g + ∈gijt Data analysis was conducted using SPSS. SPSS was used for
(3) pilot testing the reliability (using Cronbach’s alpha) of the
In (AwayMktRatinggijt ) survey instrument. The hypothesis of the study is processed
with three sets of factors (sports and sociology or sports and
= 𝛽0 + 𝛽1 Win Pr obgijt + 𝛽2 Win Pr ob2gijt + 𝛽3 HELOgijt politics or economics and sports).
+ 𝛽4 AELOgijt + 𝛽5 sELOgt + 𝛽6 HDPit
+ 𝛽7 ADPjt + 𝛽8 Rivalryij + 𝛽9 ALagWinPctgi 4.3.1 Sports and sociology
(4)
+ 𝛽10 Cablegij + 𝛽11 Pr imetimegij + 𝛽12 HAgeit It is surprising that the sociological and social scientific
+ 𝛽13 AAgejt + 𝛽14 StadiumAgeit + 𝛽15 Selloutgij study of sports ritualized, rationalized, commercial specta-
+ 𝛽16 AIncit + 𝜃j + 𝜔g + 𝜏t + 𝜇g + 𝛿g + ∈gijt . cles and bodily practices that create opportunities for expres-
sive performances, disruptions of the everyday world, and
Here, i j(i ≠ j) represent the home and away team in affirmations of social status and belonging were still seen as
each game g, in year t. This study estimated home and something as a joke by mainstream sociology until recently.
away ratings using (anchor) team fixed-effects panel mod- A similar comment was made in the introduction to a previ-
els. Note that the away market regression does not include ous Sociological Review Monograph on Sport, Leisure and
StadiumAge, as away fans are unlikely to have the oppor- Social Relations published twenty years ago (Home, Jary
tunity to attend a game, and therefore, stadium quality and Tomlinson, 1987). Yet, quite clearly, social aspects of
is unlikely to have any impact on viewership behavior in sport can be considered from most classical, modern and
away markets. Fixed-effects panel estimation is used for postmodern sociological theoretical perspectives, even if
both the home and away-from models with White’s SEs the ‘founding fathers’ did not have much explicitly to say
robust to heteroscedasticity. about them (Giulianotti, ed., 2004). Ritualized, civic, events
This study’s model also includes variables to measure and ceremonies (Durkheim); rationalized, bureaucratically
superstar effects as the total number of DPs for both the organized, science-driven behavior (Weber); commercial,
home and the away team, represented by HDP and ADP. global spectacles (Marx); expressivity and everyday (Sim-
Team age is represented by HAge and AAge. To control for mel and postmodernism); and male cultural displays and
broadcast characteristics, the model includes Cable for any cultural centers (feminism). These are just a few of the
games that were featured on cable channels, and Primetime issues that have concerned sociological theorists and inform
the sociological analysis of sport. It was Pierre Bourdieu,

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 The International Sports Law Journal

however, alongside Norbert Elias and his colleague Eric (2022) investigated how fans and supporters of sports teams
Dunning, who has been one of the few leading mainstream and political parties in the United States viewed relevant out-
sociologists to have taken sport seriously and who recog- groups and out-group members. Specifically, perceptions of
nized the difficulty in doing so: ‘the sociology of sport: it rival sports teams and political parties were compared to deter-
is disdained by sociologists, and despised by sportspeo- mine how fans and supporters differed in their views and likely
ple’. David Rowe et al. (2020) apply sociological analysis behaviors toward out-groups. Additional analysis revealed that
to sports before, during, and after the pandemic, arguing the common in-group influenced perceptions. Finally, politi-
that an emphasis on the relationships between human rights cal affiliation also influenced the way participants view and
and cultural citizenship is required to improve the social their likely behaviors. Research and practical implications are
institution of sport. Evans et al. (2020) characteristics of discussed, and additional research avenues are introduced.
the virus, its real (and imagined) socio-economic, cultural Elizabeth et al.’s (2023) findings demonstrate the significance
and social impacts, and what it might mean for the future of ideology, policy, community, and place when understand-
have filled our television and computer screens, the airwaves ing how sport can be both a cause of, and solution for, social
and social media feeds. Letícia Cristina Lima Moraes et al. inequalities, as well as providing sites for promoting health
(2022) see that the Argentinian production is more linked and well-being, quality of social relationships, social capital,
to sociology researchers. In addition, studies are predomi- and trust.
nantly about soccer, notions of identity, and mostly used
local bibliographic references. Finally, this study is itself a Hypothesis 3: Popularity is positively correlated with atti-
contribution to a greater understanding and analysis of the tude toward watching League Sports.
sociology of sport in Argentina and Latin America.

Hypothesis 1: Sports involvement is positively correlated 4.3.3 Economics and Sports

with attitude toward watching the league.
There are two ways to look at the relationship between eco-
Hypothesis 2: Acquisition of knowledge is positively cor- nomics and sport. The first is the economics of sports, where
related with attitude toward watching leagues. economics is used “in the service” of the sports industry
to analyze the profitability of clubs, attendance demand,
competitive balance, etc. However, this article and the spe-
4.3.2 Sports and politics cial issue aim to concentrate on economics in sports. Kahn
(2000) argues that sports data are very unique in that they
Before the totalitarian regimes of the 1930s, sports took place embody a large amount of detailed information that can be
largely outside of the political sphere. Beyond some allusions used for research purposes. The most related literature to
to the government during the games of national teams, sports the hot hand is the literature on the existence of momentum,
occurred without any reference to a regime. Even after the which was described by a Nobel Prize Laureate, Eugene
politicization of sports by totalitarian regimes, democratic gov- Fama as the biggest challenge to his theory of financial mar-
ernments clung to the cliche of politics not mixing well with ket efficiency. Another field where sports shed new light
sports. The politics of equality and inequality is also of interest relates to the literature on discrimination and favoritism.
among sociologists of the sport, since it is well established that Maayan Meridan et al. (2019) stated that increases in the
sports are social phenomena that reflect, reveal, reproduce, and tax base, infrastructure, energy provisions, tourism, and
reinforce social inequalities, ideologies, and social exclusion. leisure consumption in host countries, and enhanced the
Sports are also potential sites of resistance to social inequality, country-of-origin effect. The complex tasks of enhancing
producing social change, improving life chances, and fostering the effectiveness of physical culture and sport at all levels
social relationships which provide the basis for a more humane are to be resolved by sports entrepreneurs and managers.
social world. Brown et al. (2022) examine how the nationalism Naturally, only qualified, professionally trained specialists
narrative is present in sports, thus further enmeshing politics in in the field of physical culture and sports can modernize the
sports. A review of the literature and case studies are used to established system of economic relations in sports and quali-
provide context on how athletes have used their social media tatively improve the parameters of its functioning. Adele
for political purposes and how political ideologies and social Pavlidis et al. (2023) race the particular logic and desires
media can impact international sports markets. Erik Peterson (such as corporate expansion) that drove the Australian
et al. (2020) find evidence politicization is a top–down process Football League to develop a women’s competition in the
driven by political elites. In survey-linked web browsing data name of equality. This maps the organizational tensions and
and a survey experiment, exposure to political media leads effects that produce (the doing of) gender equality through
the public to evaluate ESPN in political terms. Havard et al. different desires.

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The International Sports Law Journal

Hypothesis 4: Psychic income has a significant impact on Table 3  Internal consistency Reliability statistics
watching League sports following economic factors. statistics
Cronbach’s alpha N of Items

Hypothesis 5: Community visibility has a significant and 0.867 7

positive impact on awareness in watching leagues.

Premier League (IPL), Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), Indian

4.4 Pilot testing Super League (ISL), and Pro Wrestling League (PWL).
Table 5 reveals the first 5 year viewership of the Indian
It is a pretesting of a particular research instrument, such as Premier League population in millions, i.e., 102 million in
a questionnaire or interview schedule. Cronbach’s alpha 𝛼 2008, 123 million in 2009, 144 million in 2010, 160 million
(or coefficient alpha) tests to see if multiple-question Likert in 2011, and 164 million in 2012, respectively. Furthermore,
scale surveys are reliable or internal consistency which is the table highlights the increased viewership between the
shown in Table 2. years (difference between previous and present year popula-
The present research addresses most aspects of the tion in millions), i.e., 21 million between 2008 and 2009, 21
implementations and practices of pilot studies in the sports million between 2009 and 2010, 16 million between 2010
organization, since such implementations and practices will and 2011, and 04 million between 2011 and 2012, respec-
consider the different league sports to find factors influ- tively. Additionally, table no. 1.3 also exhibits the increased
encing rating. Table 3 states that the questionnaire cases viewership percentage difference between the years (differ-
with overall sort of report according to valid, Excluded and ence between a previous and present year in percentage), i.e.,
Total. Among 255, the valid result with a percentage is about 20.29% between 2008 and 2009, 17.7% between 2009 and
0.867. Further, it excluded the range with list-wise deletion 2010, 11.11% between 2010 and 2011, and 2.5% between
carried out. It was based on all variables in the procedure, 2011 and 2012, respectively.
which is less than zero. Graphical representation of Fig. 2a represents the first 5
Table 4 illustrates the total statistics of the item accord- years of viewership in millions of Indian Premier League
ing to the questionnaires. It shows that the bias that occurs (IPL). The viewership was explored in the years between
when the used scale means and variance in the case of an 2008 (from the establishment) and 2012 from which the
item deleted does not measure what it intended to measure. analysis results that the viewership increases year by year.
In addition, analyzing the correlation for the total items However, Fig. 2b describes that the viewership increased in
shows that there is no high correlation between measurement the years between the period of 2008 and 2009, and 2010
errors and true scores, observed scores minus measurement and 2011. Additionally, this study appeared with a different
errors, and error scores are random and uncorrelated with percentage of increased viewership every year of the analysis
each other. Furthermore, it estimates Cronbach’s alpha when in Fig. 2c. The statistic depicted the largest gain in viewer-
the item was deleted, which predicts that the internal consist- ship in the 2008–2009 league year, followed by that year’s
ency was unacceptable. decrease in percentage.
Table 6 reveals the first 5 year viewership of the Pro
Kabaddi League population in millions, i.e., 435 million in
5 Results and discussion
Table 4  Item-total statistics
The result of the present research contributes to the study
of the success rate of the four professional sports leagues in Scale mean if Scale variance Corrected Cronbach’s
item deleted if item deleted item-total cor- alpha if item
India which are selected here to estimate the rate using view-
relation deleted
ership data. The four professional sports leagues are Indian
Q1 111.83 220.332 0.019 0.063
Table 2  Consistency level according to Cronbach’s alpha Q2 111.66 229.297 − 0.019 0.097
Cronbach’s alpha Internal consistency Q3 112.15 210.555 0.101 − 0.013a
Q4 111.63 230.257 − 0.020 0.098
𝛼 ≥ 0.9 Excellent Q5 112.27 238.710 − 0.043 0.113
0.8 ≤ 𝛼 < 0.9 Good Q6 112.51 212.511 0.096 − 0.007a
0.7 ≤ 𝛼 < 0.8 Acceptable
Q7 112.11 222.437 0.044 0.041
0.6 ≤ 𝛼 < 0.7 Questionable
a
0.5 ≤ 𝛼 < 0.6 Poor The value is negative due to a negative average covariance among
𝛼 < 0.5 Unacceptable items. This violates reliability model assumptions. You may want to
check item coding

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 The International Sports Law Journal

2014, 560 million in 2015, 114 million in 2016, 316 million percentage), i.e., 28.73 % between 2014 and 2015, - 79.7 %
in 2017, and 1188 million in 2018, respectively. Further- between 2015 and 2016, 105.26 % between 2016 and 2017,
more, the table highlights the increased viewership between and 275.6 % between 2018 and 2019, respectively.
the years (difference between previous and present year Figure 3a would be a diagrammatic display of the first 5
population in millions), i.e., 125 million between 2014 and years of Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) viewership in millions.
2015, − 446 million between 2016 and 2017, 102 million The viewership was studied from 2014 (when it first started)
between 2017 and 2018, and 872 million between 2017 and to 2018, and the research indicated that the viewership has
2018, respectively. Additionally, table no 1.4 also exhibits been rising season after season, with a slight fall in the year
the increased viewership percentage difference between the 2016 and 2017. However, as seen in Fig. 3b, viewership
years (difference between a previous and present year in expanded in 2015. Furthermore, this study is depicted in

Table 5  First 5 years of viewership of Indian Premier League (population in millions)

Professional sports league Indian Premier League (cricket)
Year 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Viewership (population in millions) 102 123 144 160 164

Increased viewership (population in millions) 102 21 21 16 04
Increased viewership percentage difference NIL 20.29% (between 17.07% (between 11.11% (between 2.5% (between
(between the years) 2008 and 2009) 2009 and 2010) 2010 and 2011) 2011 and
2012)

Fig. 2  Graphical representa- VIEWERSHIP (POPULATION INCREASED VIEWERSHIP

tion of viewership, increased IN MILLIONS) (POPULATION IN MILLIONS)
viewership, and the difference Viewership (Population in Millions) Increased Viewership (Population in Millions)
in percentage of Indian Premier
164
160

League
144

21

21
123

16
102

4
0

2008 2008 - 2009 - 2010 - 2011 -

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2009 2010 2011 2012

(a) (b)
INCREASED VIEWERSHIP (DIFFERENCE
IN PERCENTAGE)

Increased Viewership (Difference in Percentage)

20.29

17.07

11.11

2.5
0

2008 2008 - 2009 2009 - 2010 2010 - 2011 2011 - 2012

(c)

Table 6  First 5 years of viewership of pro Kabaddi League (population in millions)

Professional sports league Pro Kabaddi League (Kabaddi)
Year 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Viewership (population in millions) 435 560 114 316 1188

Increased viewership (population in millions) Nil 125 − 446 102 872
Increased viewership percentage difference Nil 28.73% (Between − 79.64% (Between 105.26% (Between 275.9%
(between the years) 2014 and 2015) 2015 and 2016) 2016 and 2017) (Between 2017
and 2018)

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Fig. 3c with a distinct proportion of increasing viewing for the viewership has been rapidly decreasing game after game,
each year of the investigation. According to the data, after with a modest increase in 2016 and 2017, particularly. View-
a sharp drop in viewership in 2016, viewership has risen ership decreased densely in 2015 and 2018, as shown in
dramatically in 2017. Fig. 4b. In addition, Fig. 4c illustrated this analysis with a
Table 7 reveals the first 5 year viewership of the Indian different percentage of increasing and decreasing viewership
Super League population in millions, i.e., 429 million in for every year from the establishment. As per the data, the
2014, 207 million in 2015, 216 million in 2016, 270 mil- percentage of viewership decreased significantly between
lion in 2017, and 127.7 million in 2018, respectively. Fur- 2015 and 2018, except for the years 2016 and 2017, which
thermore, the table highlights the increased viewership are captured with a slight increase.
between the years (difference between previous and present Table 8 reveals the first 5 year viewership of the Pro
year population in millions) i.e., − 222 million between 2014 Wrestling League population in millions i.e., 30.5 million in
and 2015, 09 million between 2015 and 2016, 54 million 2015, 31 million in 2016, 5.41 million in 2017, 23.7 million
between 2016 and 2017, and − 142.3 million between 2017 in 2018, and 0.93 million in 2019, respectively. Furthermore,
and 2018, respectively. Additionally, table no 1.5 also exhib- the table highlights the increased viewership between the
its the increased viewership percentage difference between years (difference between previous and present year popula-
the years (difference between a previous and present year in tion in millions), i.e., 0.5 million between 2015 and 2016,
percentage), i.e., − 51.74 % between 2014 and 2015, 4.34% − 25.59 million between 2016 and 2017, 18.29 million
between 2015 and 2016, 20% between 2016 and 2017, and between 2017 and 2018, and − 22.77 million between 2018
− 52.59% between 2017 and 2018, respectively. and 2019, respectively. Additionally, table no 1.6 also exhib-
Figure 4a depicts the viewership of the Indian Super its the increased viewership percentage difference between
League (ISL) in millions throughout the first 5 years of its the years (difference between a previous and present year in
establishment. The viewership was researched from 2014 percentage) i.e., 1.64% between 2015 and 2016, − 85.54%
(when it first began) to 2018, and the findings revealed that

Fig. 3  Graphical representa- VIEWERSHIP (POPULATION INCREASED VIEWERSHIP

tion of viewership, increased (POPULATION IN
IN MILLIONS)
MILLIONS)
viewership and the difference
in percentage of Pro Kabaddi Viewership (Population in Millions)
Increased Viewership (Population in
League
1188

Millions)

-446
560
435

872
316
114

125

102
0

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
(a) (b)
INCREASED VIEWERSHIP
(DIFFERENCE IN PERCENTAGE)

Increased Viewership (Difference in Percentage)

275.9
105.26
-79.64
28.73
0

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

(c)

Table 7  First 5 years of viewership of Indian Super League (population in millions)

Professional sports league Indian Super League (soccer)
Year 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Viewership (population in millions) 429 207 216 270 127.7

Increased viewership (population in millions) Nil − 222 09 54 − 142.3
Increased viewership percentage difference Nil − 51.74% (between 4.34% (between 20% (between − 52.59%
(between the years) 2014 and 2015) 2015 and 2016) 2016 and 2017) (between 2017
and 2018)

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Fig. 4  Graphical representa- VIEWERSHIP (POPULATION IN INCREASED VIEWERSHIP

tion of viewership, increased MILLIONS) (POPULATION IN MILLIONS)
viewership, and the difference
Viewership (Population in Millions) Increased Viewership (Population in
in percentage of Indian super
Millions)

429
league

270

-142.3
127.7
216
207

-222

54
9
0
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
(a) (b)

INCREASED VIEWERSHIP (DIFFERENCE IN

PERCENTAGE)
Increased Viewership (Difference in Percentage)

20
4.34
0
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

-51.74

-52.59
(c)

between 2016 and 2017, 33.80% between 2017 and 2018, World Series ratings and a lack of nationally recognized
and 23.30% between 2018 and 2019, respectively. stars are often cited as evidence of the sport’s impending
Figure 5a illustrates the Pro Wrestling League's (PWL) collapse. Television ratings for the IPL have continued to
viewership in millions over its first 5 years of existence. fall in comparison to 2011, but observers say that the IPL is
The viewership was studied from 2015 (ever since it began) still a “very successful media property”, and when it comes
to 2019, and the data indicated that viewership has been to ratings, it has been a victim of its initial success. The
steadily declining in each game, with a much increase in 2012 season is considered something of a litmus test for
2018. Figure 5b shows how viewership dropped dramati- the league after ratings slumped last year. The 2011 IPL
cally between 2017 and 2019 with the slightest change in produced the lowest television ratings of any of the first four
2018. Furthermore, Fig. 5c depicted this information with a seasons, down 29% from 2010. That reversal was largely
percentage difference between rising and falling viewership blamed on “cricket fatigue” arising out of India’s victorious
for each year since the start. The figure depicts a little gain World Cup campaign, with the IPL starting a mere 6 days
in percentage in 2016 and a considerably larger increase after the final between India and Sri Lanka. With no inter-
in 2018, while the league’s viewership falls dramatically in national cricket in India in the build-up to this season, the
2016 and 2019. league was expected to bounce back; with BCCI president
N Srinivasan telling the Hindu, he expected the tournament
Reasons behind pro-league sports falling and growing “to be a sweeping success”. However, the continued popu-
Major League sports and their fans have raised alarms larity of the league among other television channels was
in recent years over a perceived decline in the popularity reflected in the IPL [shown on Set Max] claiming the top
of cricket, and kabaddi in India. Falling attendance, poor five highest-rated shows for the week from April 8 to April

Table 8  First 5 years of viewership of Pro Wrestling League (population in millions)

Professional sports league Pro Wrestling League (wrestling)
Year 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Viewership (population in millions) 30.5 31 5.41 23.7 0.93

Increased viewership (population in millions) Nil 0.5 − 25.59 18.29 − 22.77
Increased viewership percentage difference Nil 1.64 % (between − 82.54 % (between 33.80 % (between − 23.30 %
(between the years) 2015 and 2016) 2016 and 2017) 2017 and 2018) (between 2018
and 2019)

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Fig. 5  Graphical representa- VIEWERSHIP (POPULATION IN INCREASED VIEWERSHIP

tion of viewership, increased MILLIONS) (POPULATION IN MILLIONS)
viewership, and the difference
Viewership (Population in Millions) Increased Viewership (Population in Millions)
in percentage of Pro Wrestling

18.29
30.5
League

31

23.7

0.5
0
5.41

0.93
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

-25.59

-22.77
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

(a) (b)

INCREASED VIEWERSHIP (DIFFERENCE IN

PERCENTAGE)
Increased Viewership (Difference in Percentage)

33.8
1.64
0
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

-23.3
-82.54
(c)

14 and seven of the top 10, as reported by IndianTelevision. franchisees have reported poor financial performance for the
com. The game that drew the highest rating was Mumbai period of the study and there are problems with debt and
Indians’ Kieron Pollard-inspired defeat of Rajasthan Royals profitability. In 2001 vs 2011–2012 and then 2011–2012 vs
on April 11, which posted a TVR of 5.26. Mumbai Indians’ 2021, it is shocking how the drop in the second comparison
last-ball victory over Deccan Chargers on April 9 finished a is way bigger. It is like a switch is flipped and it becomes
close second, with a rating of 5.2. According to Desai, the a steady drop year over year from 2012 forward. The TV
IPL’s biggest problem is that it was overpriced at the very viewership is down overall, but some stuff has mostly kept
beginning, with too many people trying to squeeze too much its audience from a decade ago like Monday Night Football,
money out of it. which we stopped comparing Raw to years ago, or cable
“Data shows that after cricket, kabaddi has the highest news. AW had a gigantic drop in ratings, the ratings from
viewership. So, from a quantitative perspective, there is a the year 2000 were already on the downward swing, with
certain ROI in it. Secondly, over the years, the game itself the early part of 2000 pulling 6s and 7s, while the latter part
has seen a lot of innovation, attracting viewers and advertis- pulled 4s and 5s. In 2011, WWE went into damage control
ers,” said a senior media planner on the condition of ano- mode. The massive drop in 2010 was an eye-opener perhaps
nymity. The drop in ratings raises questions on the timing of and with HBK's departure, they needed to shake things up.
the league as it coincided with other properties beamed by The ratings dropped from 3.28 to 3.21, despite bringing The
broadcaster Star Sports ISL, I-League and the recently con- Rock back. ADR won the Royal Rumble and faced Edge in
cluded cricket series between India and West Indies. Despite what would be Edge’s last title defense before retirement. It
having big sports properties like IPL and World Cup at the was kind of clear that the fans were not responding well to
same time in 2019, PKL season seven garnered good view- what was being presented in 2011 as 2012 saw a 6.5% drop
ership as compared to the previous season. That year, the in ratings from 3.21 to 3.00.
game was played from July 20 to October 19. The ISL face
challenges at the governance level due to its peculiar struc- Analysis of the questionnaire
ture and arrangements between the league, franchisees, and The respondents were asked a series of questions to ana-
broadcasters. Financial performance has been an issue since lyze the present situation of viewership activities in watch-
the inception of the league and franchisees have cost control ing league sports respondents. This research included 255
issues that have been commonplace in other major sport- respondents. The questionnaire measures the social and
ing leagues around the globe. Despite being in its infancy economic factors influencing watching pro-league of the
stage, the warning signs can lead to stagnation and regres- respondents with the 7-point Likert Scale. The third part of
sion of the league in the future, if not addressed properly. the instrument pertained to the participants’ willingness to
The results (at the league level) show financial problems that adopt cryptocurrencies dichotomously categorized as Yes
have, in some ways, stunted the growth of the ISL. Many (1) and No (0) (Table 9).

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 The International Sports Law Journal

From the average means calculated in the descriptive the popularity (PP) variable. In Hypothesis H4, the state-
statistics, the researcher used the means to compute cor- ment ‘Psychic income has a significant impact on watching
relation analysis, full regression models, and coefficient League sports under economic factors’ satisfy the conditions
of determination to establish the true relationship between with the correlation value p=0.78, which is positively cor-
the dependent variable [SI sports Involvement, Acquisition related and has a significant relationship between the vari-
of knowledge (AK), Popularity (PP), Psychic Income (PI), ables. Finally, for hypothesis H5, the Community Visibility
Community Visibility (CV), Attitudes (AT), and Watching (CV) variable has a positive impact on the awareness factors
League (WL)]. toward watching the pro-league. This indicates that all the
Correlation analysis factors satisfy the conditions according to the viewership of
This study incorporated Pearson product–moment cor- watching pro-league with social and economic factors. As a
relation analysis to establish whether there is an association result, the findings show that for this study, there is also no
between the independent variables and the dependent vari- statistical evidence that having better financial health leads
able as depicted in Table 26. The correlation coefficient can to superior sporting performance in the ISL and PWL.
range between ±1.0 (plus or minus one). A coefficient of
+1.0, a “perfect positive correlation,” means that changes in 5.1 Discussion of findings
the independent item will result in an identical change in the
dependent item. A coefficient of − 1.0, a “perfect negative Results of Table 3 suggested that IPL got the highest amount
correlation,” means that changes in the independent item of viewership in the year 2012, i.e., 164 million after that
will result in an identical change in the dependent item, but 160 million, 144 million, 123 million, and 120 million were
the change will be in the opposite direction. A coefficient recorded in 2011, 2010, 2009, and 2008, respectively. These
of zero means that there is no relationship between the two findings exhibited that this professional sports league has
items and that a change in the independent item will not not gained success in a night, and it gains popularity year
affect the dependent item. by year. Looking back, even though it may seem inevitable
The hypotheses were tested using Pearson correlation that viewership in cricket would call for a shorter format,
test analysis which is presented in Table 10. The results it was not really obvious at the time. The commercializa-
established that social media communications play a more tion of sports started in India with the IPL in 2008. It pro-
influential role in boosting fans’ online community engage- vides a platform for budding cricketers to get exposure; it
ment, further resulting in game attendance and the sponsor’s also provides a platform for the viewers to see their dreams
product purchase intention. According to hypothesis h1, the becoming true by watching their cricketing heroes of differ-
result revealed that the variable sports involvement (SI) has a ent nations together. The popularity of cricket in India is the
positive impact on attitudes (AT) and watching league (WL) major reason for the success of leagues like the IPL. This
with a p value of 0.038, 0.036. For hypothesis, the result shortest format of the game of cricket attracts and made their
depicts that it is positive for attitudes (AT) but has a nega- fan base among all age groups spectators of this game due to
tive correlation with watching the league. This seems that the spark, glamour, entertainment, and uncertain nature of
no one was watching pro-league matching for knowledge the game but very fast from traditional cricket. The results of
acquisition, and it was rarely associated. Further, for hypoth- the game, the last-ball finish of many matches, the good per-
esis H3, the correlation factor of the p value is about 0.084 formance of the players, the competition for orange and pur-
(AT), and 0.081 (WL), which is positively correlated with ple caps, and the presentation of glamorous cricketing drama
are also the reason behind the popularity of the league. Big
teams like Chennai Super King, Mumbai Indians, and Royal
Table 9  Descriptive statistics Challengers Bangalore have a bunch of star players Whose
stardom provides a huge fan base to these teams and the
N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. deviation
combination of players of these teams excites the fans to
SI 255 9 36 18.87 6.271 watch the matches of the league and such amount of mixed
AK 255 9 36 19.04 6.114 ingredients produce a great hunger in the spectators to watch
PP 255 10 54 18.54 5.932 the matches of the league, are the reason for the huge amount
PI 255 9 32 19.06 6.059 of success in terms of viewership of the league. Similar find-
CV 255 7 30 18.42 5.651 ings were reported by Duff et al. (2017) who revealed that
AT 255 9 31 18.18 5.860 the T.V. viewership of IPL in the first 5 years increased and
WL 255 9 30 18.58 5.760 also reported that the highest TV viewership was acquired
Valid N 255 in the 5th edition of the league.
(list- Further, the results of Table 4 suggested that the TV
wise)
viewership of Pro Kabaddi League got the highest no. of

13
 Table 10  Pearson correlation result output
SI AK PP PI CV AT WL

SI
Pearson correlation 1 − 0.048 − 0.077 − 0.006 0.113 0.038** 0.036**
Sig. (2-tailed) 0.446 0.221 0.921 0.072 0.546 0.564
The International Sports Law Journal

N 255 255 255 255 255 255 255

AK
Pearson Correlation − 0.048 1 − 0.049 − 0.078 0.006 0.054 − 0.027
Sig. (2-tailed) 0.446 0.436 0.215 0.923 0.389 0.671
N 255 255 255 255 255 255 255
PP
Pearson correlation − 0.077 0.049 1 0.153* − 0.041 0.085 0.081
Sig. (2-tailed) 0.221 0.436 0.015 0.513 0.177 0.199
N 255 255 255 255 255 255 255
PI
Pearson correlation − 0.006 − 0.078 0.153* 1 − 0.175** − 0.028 0.078
Sig. (2-tailed) 0.921 0.215 0.015 0.005 0.656 0.212
N 255 255 255 255 255 255 255
CV
Pearson correlation 0.113 0.006 − 0.041 − 0.175** 1 0.066 − 0.085
Sig. (2-tailed) 0.072 0.923 0.513 .005 0.292 0.177
N 255 255 255 255 255 255 255
AT
Pearson correlation 0.038 0.054 0.085 − 0.028 0.066 1 0.021
Sig. (2-tailed) 0.546 0.389 0.177 0.656 0.292 0.744
N 255 255 255 255 255 255 255
WL
Pearson correlation 0.036 − 0.027 0.081 0.078 − 0.085 0.021 1
Sig. (2-tailed) 0.564 0.671 0.199 0.212 0.177 0.744
N 255 255 255 255 255 255 255

*Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed)

**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

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 The International Sports Law Journal

viewership in the year 2018, i.e., 1188 million after 550 mil- that the spectators started comparing this league with other
lion in 2015, 435 million in 2014, and 316 million and 144 football leagues organized in the world. Football did not
million in 2017 and 2016, respectively. Similar results were have a very rich history in India, and most of the viewers of
found in the previous research, and Sportskeeda described this game come from the south region and northeast regions
the success of the first edition of the Pro Kabaddi league that of the country; other regions of the country do have not
gained 453 million T.V. viewership in a cricket-crazy nation a big fan following for this game. Football is only famous
which was the second-highest T.V. viewership in India after among the youths and the teenagers of the country, but the
IPL in 2014. Kabaddi is a very popular game, especially in mid-age and old-age population have not shown much inter-
the population of rural India. Pro Kabaddi League gives new est in this game due to a few tough rules to understand like
birth to the game called Kabaddi by applying new formulas “OFFSIDE” and very less result-oriented games and conver-
like “do or die raid”, “super-raid”, “super-tackle”, “30 sec- sion rate of goals. Other popular games in India produce the
onds to complete the raid”, etc. which make the game fast ambassador of their games in every generation, but foot-
and interesting attract the Indian sports lover very much. ball was unable to produce any ambassadors in their era,
The format of the competition and the evening schedule has and the popularity of the game achieved among youths and
managed to raise the profile of the game to a whole new teens over the last 2 or 3 decades because of the ambassa-
level. In comparison to cricket’s shortest format of the game dor like I.M. Vijayan, Bhaichung Bhutia, and Sunil Chhetri.
and other sports like hockey and soccer, a game of kabaddi Another reason behind this low viewership of this league is
of two half of 20–20 min with a 5-min interval maximum less popularity and connectivity of football in rural areas of
takes 45–50 to completion of a game, and this economic the country in comparison to cricket and kabaddi. Similar
game in terms of duration and their thrilling rules provide findings were reported by Shannon Nogueira (2018), Imtiaz
the popularity to the league among the viewers. The key to (2019), Team Sports star (2017), and NEWS18 (2019). Sim-
capitalizing on this wave of interest is in building an ecosys- ilar data were also founded on the official website of Hero
tem of facilities and personnel to identify and nurture talent Indian Super League and BRAC: Broadcasting Audience
across states. The performance of the teams and players like Research Council of India (2020), respectively.
Ajay Thakur, Rahul Chaudhary, Pradeep Narwal, etc. and Moreover, the results of Table 6 suggested that the Pro
overseas players like Chain Kul li, Miraj Shaikh, etc. are also Wrestling League recorded 30.5 million TV viewership
factors that provide the popularity of this league. in their first edition of 2015 and further recorded a slight
However, Table 5’s results suggested that the TV view- increase in the second season of 1.64% with 31 million view-
ership of the Indian Super League got the highest amount ership, but it was not shown the same pace and recorded
of viewership in their first edition in 2014. However, after a big collapse in the third edition in 2017 with the loss of
a great opening of the first edition league has not full fill 25.59 million viewers, and the viewership of the third season
the expectation of the viewer in every edition and lost its was 5.41 million only. Organizers have not lost their faith
viewership over the years. After recording 429 million view- and came back with another season of the Pro Wrestling
ership in the opening year, it becomes 207 million in 2015, League in 2018. The fourth season recovers a bit from the
216 million in 2016, and the 2017 edition it becomes 270 last blow of viewership and scored 23.7 million T.V. viewers
million in. After collapsing from 429 million in the first which increase of 33.80% from the 2017 edition. The 2018
season to 207 million in the second season, recover 4.34% fifth season of the league again saw a loss of 22.77 million
in 2016 with 216 and jump over by 20% in 2017 to 270 mil- viewers and records of only 0.93 million viewers only. The
lion viewers. Based on the past 2 year recovery, it seems that Pro Wrestling League (PWL) was launched in 2015 to revive
the league will proceed further to gain 300+ viewership in the popular Indian sport of ‘kushti’ (wrestling), tapping the
the 5th edition, but the year 2018 brings a huge blow, and enormous talent for the sport hidden away in remote corners
viewership was fallen by 52.59% in this season with only of the country and re-introducing wrestling in India in a new
127.7 million. The Indian Super League was launched with and modern avatar. The league started with a decent viewer-
the motive of promoting football in the country and provid- ship of 30.5 million 31 million in the first two seasons, but
ing much-needed exposure to young players to develop their this league lost the viewership over the years. The league
skills. The combined efforts of IMG, Reliance Industries, started on the model of IPL, PKL, and ISL with Indian
and Star Sports gave rise to the first season of the ISL in the and overseas players in mixed wrestling tournaments. This
year 2014. ISL is the third biggest league in India after IPL league has not gained success in means of viewership like
& PKL and BRAC also recorded that ISL is also the third other successful leagues in India. The major region behind
biggest football league in the world in terms of viewership. this was the fan base and popularity of wrestling in the coun-
ISL witnessed a huge opening in its first edition but was not try. As football is majorly famous in the northeast and south
carried the same success rate over the years. TV viewership region of the country, wrestling is majorly famous in Hary-
decreased after a huge first season the assumed reason was ana, Punjab, U.P., and Delhi regions only. The presentation

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The International Sports Law Journal

and the quality of the matches and the performances of the impact on attendance. Therefore, the objective of this work
Indian wrestlers in comparison with the overseas wrestlers was highlighted as follows:
are the reason behind the falling graph of IWL.
The evolution of IPL as a brand is an example of success- This study contributed to the selected professional sports
ful product innovation, which effectively combined enter- league in India, namely, Indian Premier League (IPL), Pro
tainment and sports. The Twenty20 (T20) format of IPL, Kabaddi League (PKL), Indian Super League (ISL) and
which is estimated to have had a viewership of 191 million Pro Wrestling League (PWL).
people and ad revenue of 8 billion in 2014 has led to the The successful viewership of the leagues of the selected
creation of several other league-format sporting events, such sport was estimated with the data collected with the deter-
as the Indian Badminton League, Hockey India League, and mination of dependent and independent variables using
the recently launched Pro-Kabaddi League. The inaugural the Tobit regression model.
season of football’s Indian Super League has been fairly suc- Based on the results and findings of the study, the
cessful as well. The cumulative reach of the Pro Kabaddi researcher concluded that Pro Kabaddi League witnessed
League was 425 million compared to 560 million for IPL the highest viewership (i.e., in the first 5 years of the
in 2014. Football’s Indian Super League was close with league) in contrast to the Indian Premier League, Indian
410 million cumulative reaches. The new domestic sports Super League, and Pro Wrestling League.
leagues, however, require significant management efforts Further, it was also clarifying the misconceptions and
over a while to get established and be successful. doubts about the strength of indigenous games as a public
interest that is associated with sports only in this nation.

6 Conclusion The findings of the present study will attract Indian view-
ers to indigenous games as a complete entertainment pack-
Sport is a global business activity with a strong entrepre- age with slight modifications to the old rules and regulations
neurial bent. The purpose of this article was to explore the because every citizen is emotionally connected with their
professional sports league in India, with an emphasis on how traditional and cultural heritage as well as rural indigenous
to better integrate sports management and national business activities.
literature to identify and reinforce the practical implications
of sports leagues. There was a discussion about sport-based
Data availability Data sharing does not apply to this article as no data-
business, which emphasized the numerous sports league sets were generated or analyzed during the current study.
ventures in whereby both pro and amateur sports organiza-
tions are engaged in. Further study should be carried out Declarations
on sports entrepreneur case studies and how much they
have nationalized. Furthermore, longitudinal analyses of Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of
interest.
the process of innovation that led to the success of these
professional sports leagues would help to better understand
the practical consequences of launching and sustaining a
sport-related league commercial endeavor. The importance References
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