From stadiums to screens: How India’s sports craze has moved online

In the digital world, fans don’t stop cheering after the final whistle. Comscore’s latest report “Sports Highlights on Digital, 2025 – India Edition” shows how India’s sports audience is changing fast. The study looks at how fans consume, engage and connect with sports online and what this means for the future.

Globally, sports on digital platforms saw 668 million unique visitors with a 37% reach. In India, 118 million unique visitors followed sports online. Almost 90% of them used mobile phones, making India one of the most mobile-first sports markets.

Among digital publishers, Cricbuzz leads with 53 million visitors. Dream11 follows with 26.4 million and ESPN with 14.2 million. On social media, Star Sports is the most engaging with 75.2 million total actions, ahead of CricTracker and Sportskeeda Cricket. Fans now follow scores, commentary and highlights through posts and videos, not just live broadcasts.

Sports brands also play a big role online. They account for 20% of total social media engagement in India. Royal Challengers Bangalore leads with 540,000 actions per post, followed by the IPL with 321,000 and Chennai Super Kings with 163,000. Franchises are turning fan passion into strong digital communities.

Athletes are the new influencers. Engagement on Indian athlete profiles on Instagram grew 56% in early 2025. Virat Kohli tops the list with 2.6 million actions per post. Hardik Pandya and Rohit Sharma follow with 1.9 million and 1.6 million. Their posts draw huge attention and boost brand visibility.

The study also shows how sports audiences overlap with other sectors. Fans are 25% more likely to visit retail or financial sites. About 96% of them visit retail platforms and 91% check financial services sites. This opens up strong opportunities for advertisers.

Matchdays still drive big digital spikes. On 22 January 2025, during the first T20 between India and England, Hotstar’s mobile audience doubled to 27.4 million. Streaming time jumped 129%. Later matches saw similar growth.

Global tournaments are also setting new records. Wimbledon 2025 saw 226 million social media actions, the highest ever. Engagement grew by 36 million year-on-year.

Comscore’s report closes with three key takeaways. Brands need a cross-platform strategy. They must understand audience preferences. And they should treat social media as the main stage for fan connection.

India’s sports story has moved online. Every click, scroll and share now counts. The digital field is where fans gather, brands compete and the game never really ends.