What India Watched in 2019: Mixed Martial Arts sees a rise in viewership

17 April 2020

The Broadcast Audience Research Council India (BARC) India recently released their ‘What India Watched in 2019’ yearbook which covers the viewership trends in India for the year of 2019.

The sports report of the section details about how India consumed sports content in the past year and Mixed Martial Arts has found a place in the same. The 2018 report did not have any mention of MMA, meaning that there is a steady rise in the viewership of the same.

Mixed Martial Arts managed to get a sports viewership share of 0.3% which is higher than Tennis, Racing, and Basketball. Mixed Martial Arts also had a telecast share of 3% which is slightly less than Tennis and same as Racing and 1% greater than Basketball.

Without much surprises, the most-watched sport in the nation was Cricket, followed by Soccer, Kabbadi, and Wrestling. You can see the stats below courtesy of BARC India.

The report also highlights how different states in India tune in to different sports. Assam, for instance, had 4% of its sports viewership to Mixed Martial Arts and 15% to Wrestling.

MMA in India has been seeing a huge rise in popularity lately and this data revealed by BARC backs it up. With the domestic scene also picking up the steam, the only way for MMA in India is up.