A staggering 1 million fans have so
far thronged stadia across the
country to watch the ongoing Indian
Super League, as India's most-
watched football league sets yet
another benchmark in its inaugural
season. This landmark achievement
continues to signal the countrywide
excitement for the League, and is a
further proof point in the
organisers' determination to herald
the 'birth of a football nation'
Furthermore, the average match
attendance recorded by the ISL
since its inaugural tie on Oct. 12th
till yesterday's match between FC
Goa and Kerala Blasters FC at
24,357 reinforces its position as the
highest across the whole of Asia.
The ISL also makes it mark against
the major global leagues and has
surpassed Italy's Serie A in average
attendance to become the fourth
best in world football. The league
now trails only Germany's
Bundesliga, the Barclays Premier
League and Spain's La Liga in terms
of average attendance.
Indian Super League kicked off
with 65,000 people attending the
opening game between Atletico de
Kolkata and Mumbai City FC on
12th Oct 2014, while a crowd of
over 49,000 turned up on 6th
November to watch the Kerala
Blasters FC vs. FC Goa game in
Kochi. That number swelled to a
full capacity stadium with over
57,000 attending the Kerala Blasters
FC vs Atletico de Kolkata game,
surpassing expectations and serving
up an electric atmosphere inside
the ground.
This feat was repeated again last
night with another full-house at
Fatorda stadium, Goa having 19,752
fans in attendance, which brought
the ISL cumulative attendance
figure to 9 lakh 98 thousand - just
2,000 short of the 1 million mark.
With today's Match No 42
scheduled at Guwahati between
NorthEast United FC Vs Chennaiyin
FC, ISL is set to surpass the mark
of hosting 1 million live fans. The
crowd numbers seen at ISL matches
is testament to the sustained
popularity of the League which
continues to pull in ever-greater
crowds past its halfway mark.
Fans attending the matches are also
diverse, with football purists
alongside those new to the sport as
well as families turning out in force
at the stadia. Apart from the
chance to watch some of football's
greatest legends take to the field,
some high-quality international
players and the emergence of
Indian stars, the dramatically
improved stadia facilities and
overall entertainment offer are
proving to be major draws for the
crowds. Tickets have also been sold
at various price-points in keeping
with the ISL's aims of taking
football to the widest possible
audience.
The League's ambitious broadcast
plan, with the ISL telecast live
across eight channels in five
languages, is another major factor
in driving crowd attendance. Fans
across the country, eager to
experience the noise and
excitement typical of the ISL, have
gone to a live football match for the
first time after watching the games
on their TV screens.
"We are delighted to have hosted 1
million fans across the eight
stadiums already in our first season
and are proud to be counted as the
world's fourth best football league
in terms of average attendance. We
have always believed that the sport
of football, if given the right
platform, has the potential for
tremendous growth in India," a ISL
spokesperson said.
"With the first season of the ISL
now drawing closer to its business
end and fans starting to build an
affinity for their local clubs and
heroes, the numbers are only
expected to swell further. ISL in its
first year has taken a massive step
towards driving the birth of India
as a footballing nation and promises
to scale greater heights in the years
to come."
The ISL is already the most
watched non-cricketing sport in
India with 364 million viewers
tuning in to catch the action live on
their TV sets. The League has also
dominated social media trends
notching up over 7.7 billion
impressions on Facebook and
Twitter.
The Indian Super League is being
beamed across a global audience,
expanding the reach of the most
exciting new football league across
5 continents and in 23 languages. In
India the Indian Super League is
being telecast live on eight channels
across five languages on Star Sports
2 (English), Star Sports 3 (Hindi),
Star Sports HD 2 (English), Star
Gold (Hindi), Star Utsav (Hindi),
Asianet Movies (Malayalam), Jalsha
Movies (Bengali) and Suvarna Plus
(Kannada). It is also available live
on www.starsports.com
far thronged stadia across the
country to watch the ongoing Indian
Super League, as India's most-
watched football league sets yet
another benchmark in its inaugural
season. This landmark achievement
continues to signal the countrywide
excitement for the League, and is a
further proof point in the
organisers' determination to herald
the 'birth of a football nation'
Furthermore, the average match
attendance recorded by the ISL
since its inaugural tie on Oct. 12th
till yesterday's match between FC
Goa and Kerala Blasters FC at
24,357 reinforces its position as the
highest across the whole of Asia.
The ISL also makes it mark against
the major global leagues and has
surpassed Italy's Serie A in average
attendance to become the fourth
best in world football. The league
now trails only Germany's
Bundesliga, the Barclays Premier
League and Spain's La Liga in terms
of average attendance.
Indian Super League kicked off
with 65,000 people attending the
opening game between Atletico de
Kolkata and Mumbai City FC on
12th Oct 2014, while a crowd of
over 49,000 turned up on 6th
November to watch the Kerala
Blasters FC vs. FC Goa game in
Kochi. That number swelled to a
full capacity stadium with over
57,000 attending the Kerala Blasters
FC vs Atletico de Kolkata game,
surpassing expectations and serving
up an electric atmosphere inside
the ground.
This feat was repeated again last
night with another full-house at
Fatorda stadium, Goa having 19,752
fans in attendance, which brought
the ISL cumulative attendance
figure to 9 lakh 98 thousand - just
2,000 short of the 1 million mark.
With today's Match No 42
scheduled at Guwahati between
NorthEast United FC Vs Chennaiyin
FC, ISL is set to surpass the mark
of hosting 1 million live fans. The
crowd numbers seen at ISL matches
is testament to the sustained
popularity of the League which
continues to pull in ever-greater
crowds past its halfway mark.
Fans attending the matches are also
diverse, with football purists
alongside those new to the sport as
well as families turning out in force
at the stadia. Apart from the
chance to watch some of football's
greatest legends take to the field,
some high-quality international
players and the emergence of
Indian stars, the dramatically
improved stadia facilities and
overall entertainment offer are
proving to be major draws for the
crowds. Tickets have also been sold
at various price-points in keeping
with the ISL's aims of taking
football to the widest possible
audience.
The League's ambitious broadcast
plan, with the ISL telecast live
across eight channels in five
languages, is another major factor
in driving crowd attendance. Fans
across the country, eager to
experience the noise and
excitement typical of the ISL, have
gone to a live football match for the
first time after watching the games
on their TV screens.
"We are delighted to have hosted 1
million fans across the eight
stadiums already in our first season
and are proud to be counted as the
world's fourth best football league
in terms of average attendance. We
have always believed that the sport
of football, if given the right
platform, has the potential for
tremendous growth in India," a ISL
spokesperson said.
"With the first season of the ISL
now drawing closer to its business
end and fans starting to build an
affinity for their local clubs and
heroes, the numbers are only
expected to swell further. ISL in its
first year has taken a massive step
towards driving the birth of India
as a footballing nation and promises
to scale greater heights in the years
to come."
The ISL is already the most
watched non-cricketing sport in
India with 364 million viewers
tuning in to catch the action live on
their TV sets. The League has also
dominated social media trends
notching up over 7.7 billion
impressions on Facebook and
Twitter.
The Indian Super League is being
beamed across a global audience,
expanding the reach of the most
exciting new football league across
5 continents and in 23 languages. In
India the Indian Super League is
being telecast live on eight channels
across five languages on Star Sports
2 (English), Star Sports 3 (Hindi),
Star Sports HD 2 (English), Star
Gold (Hindi), Star Utsav (Hindi),
Asianet Movies (Malayalam), Jalsha
Movies (Bengali) and Suvarna Plus
(Kannada). It is also available live
on www.starsports.com
