Fans and media keeping football alive in India

There are a few countries where soccer is the second fiddle - for example- India and Australia , where cricket is god and religion.

soccer fever in india

But this Claim doesn't hold any say now as India this time has broke its records and has left the usual possessiveness for Cricket far behind.

Business standard reveals some startling facts about FIFA World Cup here in India:

1.

Football received three times higher editorial coverage than cricket across six major cities - Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai - in the run-up to the event.

2.

According to reaseach published by Eikona PR Track, the PR and content analysis division of TAM Media Research, soccer fever reached a pitch in Mumbai, touching close to 48,000 ccms.

3.

News channels also added to the buzz. There was an overall 4 per cent increase in male viewers on news channels during June 9-17, primarily from the Hindi news segment. Not surprisingly, viewership in the 15-24 years age group increased 2 per cent. This came completely from the English news segment.

4.

Fifa brought in more female viewers, cricket welcomed more men. Female viewership went up from 26 per cent during pre-Fifa period (May 31-June 8) to 31 per cent once the World Cup started - a jump of 19 per cent. On the other hand, male viewership saw 7 per cent drop during the corresponding period.

Seems, cricket has really upset Indian sports lovers so they are now happy switching to FIFA. At least some change!

Image credit:Vivek's Blog