An aggregate of 429 million viewers watched the inaugural Indian Super League football tournament live on their TV screens, "making it the second most-watched sport in the country after cricket," according to the PTI. The league "cut across demographic boundaries and captured the imagination of a diverse fan base, with women and children accounting for 57 percent of the 429 million viewers." The final played between Atletico de Kolkata and Kerala Blasters, on Dec. 20, "was watched by 57 million viewers, culminating the over two months long league." The final "registered as the highest rated match of the tournament," 11% higher than the opening match of the tournament. The popularity of the ISL "has also been evident across social media platforms." It "has dominated trends online with fans extremely vocal in their enthusiasm." Globally, the ISL has created 2.2 million conversations on social media "with more than 275,000 unique authors (twice as many unique authors as 2014 FIFA World Cup in India) generating 11 billion potential impressions" (PTI, 12/30).
