Prime Volleyball League captivates audiences in Season 1

The inaugural season of the RuPay Prime Volleyball League powered by A23 concluded with a bang when the Kolkata Thunderbolts lifted the trophy after beating Ahmedabad Defenders in the final on 27th February, 2022. The league that went underway on 5th February, 2022 logged record numbers for the sport in India. 

Seven teams, the Ahmedabad Defenders, Bengaluru Torpedoes, Calicut Heroes, Chennai Blitz, Hyderabad Black Hawks, Kochi Blue Spikers and Kolkata Thunderbolts participated in the month-long competition that took place in Hyderabad. Sony Sports Network and SonyLIV were the official broadcasters of the Prime Volleyball League in India, while Willow TV telecast the matches internationally in the USA. The league was also streamed live on Facebook outside the Indian subcontinent. 

Across the 24 games played, the league reached 41 million television viewers, who had the choice of English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu or Malayalam commentary.  

Rajesh Kaul, Chief Revenue Officer, Distribution and Head – Sports Business, Sony Pictures Networks India said, “The first season of RuPay Prime Volleyball League has had a successful start with the tournament being live telecast in 5 languages and attracting a host of advertisers in its inaugural edition. In spite of clashing with multiple sporting events taking place at the same time, the league managed to hold its own with 41 million viewers. With the large number of volleyball fans in the country and the appealing format of the league, it has the potential to attract more fans & grow even more.”   

In addition, the Prime Volleyball League managed to reach over 84 million fans across India, along with over 5 million engagement from audiences around the world through various digital platforms. The social channels through which the league was promoted included Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn. A massive regional connection was also established through contemporary social media platform ShareChat, while substantial viewership was gained on videos through Moj. In total, the videos distributed across social media platforms garnered over 43 million views. 

Tuhin Mishra, Managing Director Baseline Ventures was delighted with the impact of the RuPay Prime Volleyball league in its inaugural year, "We were confident that we would get decent numbers on television, but the digital numbers are just unprecedented. The athleticism and high adrenaline action has really captured a substantial fan base among younger viewers, and that reflects in the huge number of videos consumed online. It’s a great sign for the league and the sport of volleyball. The viewership of the RuPay Prime Volleyball also reflected gender inclusivity with 43% of the viewers being female.” 

Interestingly, spectators from 27 different countries engaged with and viewed the Prime Volleyball League during the first season.