The Hero Indian Super League, inching closer to its halfway mark, has achieved the rare milestone of having registered the highest average stadium attendance for any football league in Asia.
At the completion of match 27 on November 9, the inaugural edition has had an average stadium attendance of 22,639, positioning ISL as the best attended league across Asia, ahead of competitions such as China’s CSL, Japan’s J-League and South Korea’s K-League.
The attendance in stadia across the country has also made India score globally amongst the best football Leagues. ISL ranks the fifth highest football league in average attendance around the world, behind only Bundesliga, EPL, La Liga and Serie A, and ahead of the USA’s popular MLS, French Ligue 1 and Mexico’s Liga MX.
The average attendance ranks ISL as the 11th best attended Leagues across any sport around the world.
“We are delighted by the overwhelming response to the ISL’s inaugural season. We have always believed in the potential of football, and the fans’ support highlights the fact that football in the country needed the right platform.
“The popularity with which the ISL has been received only spurs us on towards realising the eventual dream of giving rise to a footballing nation. We take this opportunity to thank the people of India for extending such great support,” an ISL spokesperson said.
The ISL is already the most watched non-cricketing sport in India with 275 million viewers tuning in over the first three weeks alone. The league has also dominated social media trends notching up over 5 billion impressions on Facebook and Twitter.