From football and wrestling to golf and kabaddi, broadcasters are investing in an array of sports. Will the big crowds and money follow?

It was just an idea. When the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi League was launched in July this year, Piyush Pandey, the India head of O&M, agency for Fevicol, thought that the adhesive brand would fit well with the contact sport. And "Fevicol ki pakad chootegi nahin" (the Fevicol bond won't break) was used in on-ground and on-air promotions every time a kabaddi raider got caught.

"It (kabaddi) was bang on with our proposition as a brand," says Anil Jayaraj, chief marketing officer, Pidilite, owners of Fevicol. About 128 million Indians watched the Star Sports-promoted league. That is about half the number that followed India's biggest sports event, the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2014, on TV. Its weekly viewership was close to that of Star Plus' top rated soap, Diya aur Baati Hum. "We are very pleased with the ratings," says Jayaraj.

Having tasted success with kabaddi, Star India (which had a revenue of Rs 6,100 crore in 2013) is now pushing football with the Hero Indian Super League. Since it began in October, the average viewership has been 34 million. But the competition is not lagging. Sony (revenues of Rs 3,120 crore in 2013), which owns the telecast rights to IPL, has invested in the World Kabaddi League, FIFA and Euro football events, and the Ultimate Fighting Championship, a mixed martial arts event. At the Rs 4,602-crore Zee Entertainment, Rajesh Sethi, CEO of its sports channel Ten Sports, talks excitedly of investing year-on-year in WWE wrestling, football, golf and other sports. (SPORTS INDIANS WATCH)

"There is certainly a momentum on sports other than cricket," says K Satyanarayana, senior vice-president, R K Swamy Media Group. NP Singh, CEO, Multi Screen Media (Sony) agrees, "All sports channels are looking at sports outside of cricket."