Burman’s Kho Kho Sports League (KKSL) has earmarked ₹200 crore of investment for the first five years of the franchise-based league. Besides owning equity in the league, KKFI also gets royalty payments and commercial fees from KKSL.
The tournament was aired on Sony Sports Network besides being streamed live on Sony LIV.
On TV, the reach was 35 million while the digital reach was 6 million. It also garnered 225 million video views on social media platforms, Tenzing Niyogi told ET.
The inaugural edition was held from August 14 to September 4 last year with six teams in contention.
Male audiences comprised 59% of the tournament’s viewers with women accounting for the remaining 41%, he said. Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat were the top five markets in terms of viewership.
“Almost 70% of the viewership for the tournament comes from urban markets, NCCS A and B audiences despite the fact that kho kho is perceived as a rural sport,” Niyogi said.He claimed that the final match was watched by 5.4 million viewers despite it clashing with the Asia Cup match between India and Pakistan on September 4.
Due to a packed sports calendar, the second season of the league would be played either in the August-September window or in December, Niyogi informed. The six franchises in the league are Chennai Quick Guns (KLO Sports), Gujarat Giants (Adani Sportsline), Mumbai Khiladis (Badshah, Punit Balan & Janhavi Dhariwal Balan), Odisha Juggernauts (Odisha Sports Development and Promotion Company), Rajasthan Warriors (Capri Global) and Telugu Yoddhas (GMR Sports).
