Star Sports, the home of football, celebrated football fans in 2019

Star Sports - India’s leading sports broadcaster has committed to bringing the best sporting action from around the world to its viewers. For football fans, 2018-2019 was action-packed on the Star Sports network with broadcast of the most popular football league in the world, the Premier League (PL) along with Bundesliga and the HERO Indian Super League (HERO ISL). Fans were also in for a treat as Star Sports broadcast football matches across its network of channels and Hotstar right from the first day till the final day of the season. Football fans were also able to witness the Indian National team LIVE during the World Cup qualifiers. The conclusion of the football seasons of the HERO ISL, PL and the Bundesliga early in the year did nothing to wane the appetite of football fans in India. After a short break, regular programming resumed when the new season of the Premier League and Bundesliga kicked off again in August 2019. Not long after, the football action doubled with the onset of HERO Indian Super League 2019-20 in the third week of October.

Star Sports renews broadcast rights for Premier League

Star Sports network has been the preferred choice for fans of Premier League in India over the last 2 decades. Star Sports is the number one destination for Football fans in India for not just the live broadcast of matches but also the in-depth analysis provided by the panel of experts. During the season, Star Sports announced the continuation of its partnership with Premier League for the next three years running into the 2021 – ‘22 season. The renewal reinforces Star Sports’ commitment to bring top class football to its viewers and football fans in India.  Football fans can tune to Star Sports network to watch over 250 Premier League games LIVE and also enjoy in commentary of some of the most respected analytical voices the game has seen.

Star Sports Select FC Experience | Bangalore

Star Sports works tirelessly to understand the pulse of its viewers and goes the distance to find ways to constantly bring the game closer to its fans. One such example was the Star Sports Select FC experience which was created to find an innovative way to connect with football fans. This gave fans the incredible experience of celebrating the game with the rest of the football brotherhood from all over the city.

September 22, 2019 saw fans in Bengaluru attend a screening of the thrilling encounter, between current table toppers, Liverpool and Chelsea helmed by first time coach and club legend Frank Lampard.  Fans of both Liverpool and Chelsea showed up in large numbers to cheer for their favourite team. This experience also gave the fans an opportunity to also interact and share their passion with local football heroes of defending HERO ISL Champions, Bengaluru FC namely Gurpreet Singh, Udanta Singh, Kean Lewis and Erik Paartalu, who also attended the screening. However, the icing on the cake was the opportunity for any football fan to be in the same room as the Premier League trophy which was also present at the screening making the overall experience a truly unforgettable one.  

HERO ISL Campaigns

Football as a sport is growing rapidly year-on-year by leaps and bounds in India leading to Star Sports’ launching its new HERO ISL campaign to showcase the love of fans for their favourite teams and how truly invested in the sport they are. This campaign is based on the #truelove and the passion fans have showcased for their favourite teams. The thought behind this creative campaign developed from the fact that over the last 5 seasons, the fan base of the HERO ISL has grown significantly and it is this love of the fans that keeps the league energized. The #truelove campaign for HERO ISL 2019-20 also saw individual creative campaigns run by ATK, Kerala Blasters and North East United F.C. showcasing the love and never-ending support of their fans for their players and teams.

HERO ISL 2019-20 opening game doubles viewership

India’s premier football league - HERO Indian Super League 2019-20, had a spectacular star-studded opening in Kochi on October 20th, 2019. The two teams, Kerala Blasters F.C. & ATK have faced each other previously in two finals - 2014 and 2016, both of which were won by ATK. The opening night of the 2019-2020 season saw Kochi’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium bathed in a sea of yellow. The home side gave its fans a lot to celebrate by winning the highly contested game 2-1 against bitter rivals, ATK. The viewership numbers for the opening day bonanza registered 1.2 TVR and 96 per cent growth in TV ratings and an impressive 97 per cent viewership growth on Hotstar over last season, which are almost double of last season. This proves that there is a consistent rise in the fan following for football in India and that the Star Sports network will continue to be the place to watch world class football.

Football United- Special content to catch all the action of HERO ISL        

A show dedicated to Indian Football, Football United focused on bringing news and insights from the world of Indian football to its fans. Anchored by Anant Tyagi, the show showcased and debated the ups and downs on the progress of the Indian football team in the World Cup qualifiers. Fans tuning into Football United learned more about their favourite players both on and off the pitch and stayed abreast of everything related to football in India.   

Hero U-17 Women’s Championship

HERO ISL has been instrumental in building the sport of football in India for over 6 years and the football fans in India have reciprocated to help build football into one of the most followed sports in the country. In another first, Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) inaugurated the HERO U-17 Women’s Championship under the aegis of AIFF, aimed to unearth talent and select the best players to represent India at the upcoming 2020 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. The 7-day tournament saw 4 teams competing against each other in a round robin format. FSDL along with Star Sports launched the campaign #GroundsKnowNoGender for the tournament. The campaign for Hero U-17 Women’s Championship was launched to build interest in women’s youth football in the country. Organised under the aegis of the All India Football Federation, the tournament final was played in Kolkata and Lionesses won the inaugural tournament with a score line of 7-2 to be crowned as champions. The highlight of the tournament was that four girls from the two scouted teams, Panthers and Cheetahs, were selected to be a part of the national camp encapsulating the success of the tournament for coaches, selectors and the participating players.

India FIFA Qualifiers

The second round of World Cup qualifiers for 2022 FIFA World Cup began in September with the Indian football team facing Oman. Star Sports brought the LIVE action of the Indian football team into the homes of fans and allowed them to witness the progress of the team thereby keeping them updated with the performance of the team. The Indian team played, Oman, Qatar, Bangladesh and Afghanistan over the course of 3 months and fans were able to see the Indian team’s performance and how the Men in Blue fought hard but came up short in trying to achieve their goal of qualifying to compete for the ultimate prize, the Football World Cup.

Bundesliga

With German football gaining more and more fans with every passing season, Star Sports ensured that Bundesliga fans watched their favourite teams LIVE. With fans soaking up all the football action on the Home of Football, Star Sports, Bundesliga has been winning the hearts of a lot of football fans from India given the quality of competition of the League. This season has again seen the blistering form of Bayern Munich and Polish striker Robert Lewandowski. With only one half of the season in the books, Lewandowski has already scored 16 goals and is on a goal scoring spree making him one of the most followed footballers of the league.

Der Klassiker Screening

To increase fan engagement for Bundesliga in India, Star Sports arranged the screening of the latest “Der Klassiker” which was held on 9^th November in Kochi. The “Der Klassiker” is one of the most awaited matches every year of the league with Bayern Munich facing arch rivals Borussia Dortmund. For this screening, former Borussia Dortmund and German defender Patrick Owomoyela were invited for the screening where he talked about the German league and the Der Klassiker matches held in the past. The Kerala fans have constantly shown their support for their HERO ISL team Kerala Blasters FC by setting the record for highest league attendance season on season and are compared to the yellow army of Borussia Dortmund. Hence, Patrick Owomoyela was also invited to watch the game from the home ground of the Kerala Blasters and add to the incredible experience for all football fans in attendance.

Premier League Campaign

One of the most watched football leagues, the Premier League, has found a home on the Star Sports network for several years now. India’s passion for football and in particular the Premier League has grown by leaps and bounds in the last few years and has gained legions of followers across the country. Many new fans in India of the English Premier League fall in love with the League after being influenced by the passion and love that their near and dear ones have for the Premier League or various clubs of the Premier League.

The recent campaign by Star Sports shows a young girl who gradually falls in love with the Premier League as she keeps seeing her brother watch and wear his emotions on his sleeve for his favourite Premier League club. The campaign is designed around the central thought of showcasing the journey of how people come to fall in love with Premier League. The context for the film is a typical interaction between a brother and sister. The sister is a non-follower of Premier League and is shown slowly moving from not liking the interruptions to her tv viewing routine, to getting interested in the league, to liking the matches and to finally falling in love with the best football league in the world. This slice of life portrayal is inspired by numerous stories of siblings and friends as to how they came to fall in love with their favorite club.