Shaji Prabhakaran critical of broadcasters, marketers; outlines viewership of SAFF Championship

The online viewership for the tournament is an encouraging outcome for Indian football.

Shaji Prabhakaran, Secretary General of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), took to social media to cite the online viewership of the 2023 SAFF Championship that India won by beating Kuwait in the final recently. Quoting the numbers, the former President of Football Delhi, made the case of how Indian football has traction despite what the advertisers or marketers believe.

“SAFF Championship 2023 YouTube numbers are encouraging and once again prove why Indian Football has traction but ask advertiser or marketer or broadcaster or digital advert guru to sell football in India. Answer more often are, football doesn’t have a captive audience or demand to make a push”, he posted on Twitter, the micro-blogging website.

2023 SAFF Championship: A huge success

The 2023 SAFF Championship was a huge success particularly due to the involvement of Lebanon and Kuwait, the two invited teams. It made India’s triumph at the tournament even more impressive as they had to beat both invited teams in order to emerge victorious. The level of the competition was considerably high and Pakistan’s participation at the tournament also attracted a huge crowd.

For instance, the highlights of the India vs Pakistan clash in the group stages attracted around 5.3m views on YouTube. There was a massive build-up to the contest due to the historical relevance and rivalry between the two neighbouring countries. India’s subsequent matches (highlights) with Nepal and Kuwait in group stages got 1.7m and 1.9m views, respectively.

The highlights of the semi-final against Lebanon saw 2.3m views while that of the final against Kuwait had 3.2m views on YouTube. Shaji Prabhakaran also made a case of whether the mindset of the broadcasters and co., is influenced by the Indian Premier League, Indian Cricket or Bollywood. He posted, “Does our comparative mindset dealing with IPL, Indian Cricket, EPLs, World Cup, blockbuster Bollywood successes overpowers their mind or their answers are based on pure data science?”

The numbers are definitely encouraging. Approximately 26,380 people were present in the stands at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bangalore for the final and sang their hearts out while supporting the Blue Tigers. Success at the 2023 SAFF Championship saw praise coming in for the Indian men’s national team from all corners of the country and it could be a turning point in making football more popular with the masses.