Sports lovers embrace Bridgestone WSH!

World Series Hockey (WSH) a joint initiative between the Indian Hockey Federation ("IHF") and Nimbus Sport, WSH was created with the objective of reinvigorating the sport Hockey in India and creating a financially self-sustaining ecosystem for Hockey to thrive and grow to become the "sports of choice" for young Indians.

Time an again it has come to light that India lacks a second strong sports which can influence the youngsters and create a rage amongst the Indian audience which Cricket has been able to arouse.Nimbus Sports took the plunge and tried to resurrect the game Hockey and create a nation wide craze amongst the viewers.Some very high profile advertisers have been roped in who had become disillusioned with Cricket and were looking for an alternate sports to bank on.

Although very initial days but ratings have been exciting.According to the viewership ratings in the very first week of the inaugural Bridgestone World Series Hockey, its at par with the world's most followed sports league EPL. Infact the ratings are 33% higher than F1. The average rating for the 9 PM game is 25% higher than EPL.

Adgully, caught up with Sorbojeet Chatterjee, Vice President - Marketing, Neo Sports Broadcast Pvt. Ltd., to get his views on the WSH current ratings and how they are looking building more stickiness for the game.Chatterjee said, "Hockey has never been showcased in such a grand scale¦A fantastic product coupled with aggressive marketing has created strong awareness and buzz for WSH. All our research has consistently thrown up the fact that there is a need gap for a strong second sport in India. Hockey is the only sport after cricket to have a pan national following."

He further added that, "We are showcasing the game on both Neo Cricket and Neo Sports with English and Hindi commentary respective to widen the audience base. There is a lot of buzz on the digital space and will start live streaming the matches as well."

The viewership data also proves that hockey is the only sport after cricket that has pan national following and best services they need gap of a strong second sport in India. The ratings of WSH are a whopping 400% more than I League, the domestic football league in India.

The ratings coupled with the hype created for Hockey looks like a good platform where marketers can bet there money on.