Asian Games can divert viewers of Champions League T20

New Delhi: The quadrennial multi-sporting event, Asiad, has officially started after its opening ceremony on Friday at Incheon. The 17th edition of the Asian Games is a two-week event which would run parallel with the sixth edition of the Champions League T20.

This time around, cricket, which is treated as a religion in India, might get a tough fight in terms of TV viewership from the Incheon Games, in which 45 nations are participating from across Asia.

During the second match of the Champions League T20, which was played between Kings XI Punjab and Australian-outfit Hobart Hurricanes at PCA stadium in Mohali, got a cold response, at least by the spectators.

The stadium which witnessed a huge turnout during the seventh season of the Indian Premier League to support their franchise, showed little response during their team's opening match of the Champions League. PCA has a sitting capacity of 28,000 but most of the seats were empty during the match, even after organisers slashed the ticket prices.

Apart from cricket, many other sports have started gaining a bit of popularity in India. So, chances are high that Indian sports viewers might get divided between Asian Games and the T20 competition which is taking place in India.

And with Asian Games starting officially from Friday, one can expect the Indian TV viewers to switch their channels between Ten Sports (for Live Asiad coverage) and Star Sports (for CLT20).

Overdose of cricket would be another reason that can give Asiad an upper hand over the cricket competition, where three Indian teams are also participating in the main round.

Interestingly, both the events are going to end on October 4.