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#2 Kerala derby can be the next big sporting rivalry
Regional derbies have always attracted fans into stadiums and kept them glued to their television boxes at home. Be it Mohun Bagan vs East Bengal F.C. (Kolkata Derby) in the I-League, Mumbai City FC vs Pune City FC (Maharashtra Derby) in the ISL, or Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Chennai Super Kings (South-India derby) in the IPL, these matches have seen large numbers of fans.
Similarly, in the RuPay Pro Volleyball League, the match between Calicut Heroes and Kochi Blue Spikers got the most attention of the fans. The two teams from Kerala, which is one of the states with most volleyball associated fan following in India, found fans cheering for them throughout the course of the league.
The tickets for match 8, which was contested between the two teams, were sold out even before the league started and the stadium was filled with fans wearing blue and red jerseys to show their support for their favourite teams. Seeing the response to the inaugural season of the league, it won't be long before we see yet another rivalry spring up in Indian sports.
#1 India loves its volleyball
It was no surprise that the Indian fans turned up in huge numbers to the stadiums to watch games. Tickets were sold out for most of the games in Kochi, testament to the popularity of the game in the city.
While this was the case with spectators coming in physically to watch matches, it was no different with respect to television ratings.
The first week of the league saw about 14.3 million viewers tune in to the RuPay Pro Volleyball League on television, while the digital platform had almost 1 million viewers. The average match impressions for every match were about 237,000, while the first 12 matches were viewed by one million users on Sony LIV, the digital platform of Sony Pictures Networks India.
On the back of these solid numbers in the first season of the league itself, it is not hard to say that the sport has established a fan following across the country.
