Believe it or not, wrestling overtakes cricket in TV viewership

In a rather shocking revelation made by the FICCI, wrestling is the most watched sport on television in India, dismantling its much-fancied competitor, cricket, from the pole position. Cricket followers will give raised eyebrows regarding the report, but the fact is that the ring has grabbed more eyeballs than the 22 yards. FICCI-EY Report on the business of Indian media and entertainment (M&E) has recorded the change in viewership tilting towards the Olympic sport. To be specific, wrestling overtook cricket in 2018 in terms of total viewership. As per reports, wrestling sums up 20% of the total viewership in our country, while cricket is marginally behind with 19%. Kabaddi sits firmly at the third spot with 17%, while the Volleyball trails at the fourth position with a mere 6%. A large part of wrestling’s viewership has been due to the popularity of WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) which is broadcasted live from foreign lands.

Also Read: Preparation for Tokyo 2020 is very much on track While the PKL (Pro Kabaddi League) has not been able to keep up its fame within the viewers. It has seen a slide of 31% in its viewer ratings for the first 12 matches of the sixth season. In 2018, a total of 23.7 crores viewers were glued to the television sets in the first 12 matches of the season, compared to 34.5 crores in the previous year, as per televisionreports.com. Indian Wrestling also had an exciting year, with Bajrang Punia and Pooja Dhanda making the headlines with brilliant performances. Bajrang won the gold medal in his respective categories at the Commonwealth Games as well as the Asian Games. He later claimed the No. 1 rankings after his display at the 2018 World Wrestling Championships. The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has also made significant policies, by becoming the first Olympic sports governing body in the country to offer sponsorship to its athletes.