The final of VIVO Pro Kabaddi season 5 between Patna Pirates and Gujarat Fortunegiants, held on October 28, was the highest viewed non-cricket event in India, bagging a record viewership of 313 million.

Despite the new format that saw the league pan out over a period of three months, the longest it had seen ever in a single season, fan interest remained strong and the matches continued to run to packed houses throughout the entire duration.

A lot of credit for the surge in interest goes to the four new teams that entered the fray this season. As a result, the league saw a huge spike in viewership from the states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu, in particular, saw the most significant growth in ratings with a 3.6x increase.

Overall, the gross impressions for VIVO Pro Kabaddi at the end of season 5 stood at 3.3 billion with a staggering watch time of over 100 billion minutes.

With an average impression of 26.2 million, the final match of season 5 was the second most viewed event after the Season 10 final of the extremely popular Indian Premier League, which stood at 39.4 million.

EVENT

AVG. IMPRESSIONS* (in millions)

IPL Season 10 Final

39.4

VIVO Pro Kabaddi Season 5 Final

26.2

Olympics - Badminton P.V. Sindhu Final

17.2

PKL Season 4 Final

15.2

ISL Season 3 Final

15

*Source: BARC, India, 2+ All India

VIVO Pro Kabaddi has managed to sustain its tremendous growth rate over the course of all five seasons with the latest final seeing an 83 percent increase in impressions from the Season 4 final between Patna Pirates and Jaipur Pink Panthers. This upward trend bodes well for fans and players alike and is sure to take the sport to new heights in the coming years.

"India has truly embraced kabaddi," said Sanjay Gupta, the MD of Star India. "This season was all about pushing boundaries. With an expanded league, there were 12 teams competing in more than 130 matches, spread across 13 weeks. The love for kabaddi cutting across geographies and demographics is self-evident.

"It is very heartening to see this response from millions of fans across the country, which has emphatically re-established kabaddi's position as the most watched non-cricket sport synonymous with the VIVO Pro Kabaddi League," he summed up.

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