Premier League expands in India with affluent, digitally engaged fanbase, study shows

Premier League fans in India demonstrate significant spending power and digital service subscriptions. The league's reach has expanded considerably across television and digital platforms. Viewership is growing beyond major cities, indicating wider appeal. Major international tournaments boost subsequent Premier League engagement significantly. This affluent and engaged audience offers brands substantial advertising opportunities.

The Premier League is not just building a bigger audience in India — it is attracting a particularly lucrative one, with fans showing high spending power, strong credit profiles and a willingness to pay for digital services, according to a JioStar study conducted in partnership with Nielsen.

The study, The Beautiful Game’s Indian Decade, found that 70% of Premier League fans in India pay monthly credit-card bills of more than Rs 40,000, while 67% have a CIBIL score of 751 or above. As many as 87% are paid subscribers to OTT, music and sports platforms, pointing to a consumer base with significant purchasing power across television and digital platforms.

The findings come as the Premier League’s reach in India continues to expand. The league now has 144.5 million followers in the country, while its combined reach across JioStar’s linear television and digital platforms has grown 2.4 times over the past five years.

Indian viewers clocked 9.04 billion minutes of Premier League football on the JioStar network during the 2025/26 season. Watch-time on linear television alone was three times that of the UEFA Champions League, according to the study.

The league’s appeal is also spreading beyond India’s major metros. Rajasthan, Bihar/Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, which together accounted for about 12% of Premier League viewership five years ago, now contribute nearly 25%, representing more than 200% growth over the period.

Towns with populations of more than one million account for around 55% of mobile and web viewing and about 63% of connected-TV viewing, highlighting the growing contribution of audiences outside the traditional metropolitan markets.

The study also points to a link between major international football tournaments and subsequent Premier League engagement. Following the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, Premier League viewership in India rose 58% in the subsequent season, with double-digit growth continuing thereafter.

For advertisers and brands, the combination of scale and spending power makes the league’s Indian audience particularly valuable. Fans engage with the competition across live matches, highlights and social media over a season spanning 380 fixtures from August to May.

Late-night viewing is a defining part of that engagement, with 27% of total watch-time occurring between midnight and 3 am, according to the study.

Premier League Chief Media Officer Paul Molnar said: “India has one of the Premier League’s most passionate and rapidly growing fanbases, and this report highlights how this has developed in recent years. We are delighted to see more Indian supporters connecting with the League, our clubs and players than ever before – and how this is reflected in the amount of Premier League football they are watching. As we look ahead to another exciting season, we remain committed to working closely with JioStar to bring fans in India closer to the Premier League and deliver the best possible viewing experience.”

Anup Govindan, Head of Sales, Sports, JioStar, said: “The story of the Premier League in India today is one of integration where football has become part of the daily routine of millions of fans. This report reaffirms that the audience growth is not just in scale, but in affluence, engagement and diversity and the next growth phase will be driven by young, metro, and non-metro audiences that seek experiences beyond live matches.”

Hemant Kewalya, India Lead - Audience Measurement, Nielsen, said: “Based on a global Nielsen report, Football is India's second-most popular sport among adults, trailing only to cricket. With evolving audience interest and behaviour this study provides an understanding of how Premier League audiences engage with the sport across regions and platforms, signalling sports interest and highlighting viewing habits, enabling more informed decision making across the media ecosystem”

The findings underline a broader shift in India’s football audience: the Premier League is increasingly reaching consumers who are not only watching more football, but are also paying for multiple digital services and displaying higher financial engagement.

For JioStar and the league, that makes the Indian market a story of both scale and quality of audience — with the next phase of growth expected to come from a mix of young, metropolitan and non-metropolitan viewers.