As the FIFA World Cup kicks off in the US, is football now part of India's mainstream?

As the FIFA World Cup kicks off in the United States, Zee Entertainment finds itself at the centre of an important experiment.

Having secured the rights to football's biggest event, the broadcaster has an opportunity to help push the sport further into India's mainstream. That is no easy task in a market where cricket dominates attention, sponsorship budgets and viewing habits.

Yet Zee's investment reflects a growing belief that football's future in India could be bigger than many assume. Broadcasters do not invest in premium global sporting properties unless they believe there is an audience worth building and advertisers worth attracting.

That raises a bigger question.

Has football already moved beyond its niche status in India?

The debate usually begins with a comparison to cricket and ends there. Television ratings are measured against the IPL. Sponsorship values are compared. Advertising revenues are weighed against cricket's commercial machine.

Football rarely wins those comparisons.

But perhaps that is because we are asking the wrong question.

The World Cup does not need to beat cricket to become mainstream. The more relevant question is whether football has grown beyond its traditional pockets of support and become part of India's broader sporting culture.

The signs suggest it has.

Bigger Than We Think

For years, football has been described as a niche sport in India. That description is becoming increasingly difficult to defend.

According to content discovery platform Taboola, India generated 97 million page views for World Cup-related content over a 90-day period, making it one of the largest football-content markets globally. That is not the profile of a niche audience.

Industry estimates suggest India has close to 300 million football followers, although only a portion actively follow the sport throughout the year. Many engage primarily during major events such as the FIFA World Cup, the UEFA European Championship and leading European club competitions. The Indian Super League has also helped create a domestic football audience, giving fans another touchpoint between major international tournaments.

Not every football follower is a hardcore fan. Mainstream sports are rarely built only on hardcore followers. They grow when casual audiences begin showing up.

And that is exactly what the World Cup has consistently managed to do.

Beyond Football's Traditional Heartlands

Football's traditional strongholds remain as passionate as ever.

In Kerala, World Cup fever is visible everywhere. It is common to see people proudly wearing the jerseys of their favourite players and national teams, reflecting a passion for football that extends far beyond the ninety minutes on the pitch. West Bengal continues to live and breathe football, while Goa's connection with the sport remains deeply embedded in its culture.

What has changed, however, is the audience outside those markets.

The rise of the Premier League, UEFA Champions League and European football content on digital platforms has introduced the sport to an entirely new generation of Indian fans.

A teenager in Jaipur, Indore or Guwahati today can follow Manchester City or Real Madrid as easily as someone in Kochi or Kolkata.

Football fandom is no longer restricted by geography.

That may be the biggest change of the last decade.

The World Cup Advantage

The World Cup's biggest strength is its ability to attract people who normally do not watch football.

Every tournament creates stories that travel far beyond the sport itself. There are underdogs, emerging stars, dramatic upsets and legends pursuing one final opportunity for glory.

The 2022 World Cup demonstrated this perfectly.

Lionel Messi's journey in Qatar became a global story, not merely a football story. Millions who had little interest in tactics or league tables found themselves invested in the outcome.

Few sporting events can create that level of emotional connection.

The World Cup also arrives with something that many sports properties struggle to achieve today: scarcity. It takes place only once every four years. That creates anticipation, urgency and attention in a way that annual tournaments often cannot.

The tournament's ability to draw casual viewers into the conversation is what separates it from most other sporting properties.

The Ratings Don't Tell the Whole Story

One reason football's popularity is often underestimated is that viewing habits have changed.

A generation ago, sports success was measured almost entirely through television ratings. Today, fans consume football across television, streaming platforms, highlights, social media and online communities.

This is particularly relevant for a World Cup being played in North America.

Several matches will be broadcast late at night or during the early hours of the morning in India. That may affect live television audiences, but it does not necessarily reduce engagement.

Fans increasingly catch up through highlights, clips, discussions and digital content.

The audience is still there. It is simply consuming the tournament differently.

Zee's Big Opportunity

This is where Zee enters the picture.

For the broadcaster, the World Cup is more than a short-term ratings opportunity. It is a chance to demonstrate that football can become a stronger and more sustainable sports business in India.

The task is not simply to air matches. It is to build a football ecosystem through studio programming, streaming, highlights, social media engagement and advertiser partnerships that keep fans connected throughout the tournament.

If Zee succeeds, the benefits could extend well beyond a single World Cup cycle.

A stronger football audience would create greater confidence among advertisers, encourage future investment in premium football properties and strengthen the sport's commercial foundations in India.

In many ways, Zee's success will be measured not only by how many people watch the tournament, but by whether more people are watching football after it ends.

The Bigger Question

The FIFA World Cup may never rival the IPL in scale.

It probably does not need to.

Football today occupies a unique space in India's sporting landscape. It combines a growing domestic audience, a massive global ecosystem and a tournament that continues to capture the imagination of even casual fans.

For Zee, this World Cup is also a test of whether football's growing popularity can be converted into sustained engagement and long-term commercial value.

If it can, the broadcaster will have done more than deliver another major sporting event. It will have helped strengthen the case for football as a mainstream sporting and media property in India.

As the FIFA World Cup kicks off in the United States, the question may no longer be whether football can become mainstream in India.

The more interesting question is whether the rest of the sports industry has recognised it yet.