What's behind RCBs mad fan following? 🏏
Brand + geography + more insights.
Welcome to the 153rd edition of the GrowthX Newsletter. Every Tuesday & Thursday I write a piece on startups & business growth. Today’s piece is going to 95,300+ operators & leaders from startups like Google, Stripe, Swiggy, Razorpay, CRED & more
RCB has never won an IPL 🤯
Valued at whooping ₹697 Crores 💰
Here's why RCB is such a 'rage' ⬇️
2016 was the year 🗓️
Last time RCB has even played an IPL final match. They have qualified for play offs for over 11 times. But, they have never ever won a single IPL trophy. That's terrible from a franchise performance lens. Go say this to a RCB fan → they'll tell you - how they 'love' RCB.
So, what's up with RCB fans? ⬇️
First/ the local is the favorite 🧭
Bengaluru is a town of homegrown cricket clubs. The OG fans here love the local clubs and for them RCB is "their club". You see the exact same behaviour with the football club - "Bengaluru FC"
Second/ fans spending money 💵
Bengaluru's IPL audience has insane appetite to pay for their club matches. Try getting a ticket to an RCB match - even on weekday matches. This season, some basic RCB match tickets were costing 3X of their list price.
Karnataka is one of the richest states in India. It contributes 8.2% to the total GDP of the country. The South Indian state also has a very high per-capita income of ₹ 3.02 lakh, 77% higher than the national per-capita income of ₹1.71 lakh. Source
Third/ the Virat Kohli brand 🧔🏻
He definitely brings the right positioning for the club having captained Indian national team for so long. Kholi's brand value hasn't seen any impact of him not actively captaining RCB for most matches this season.
Fourth/ entertainment is the name of the game 🕺🏻
Go to an RCB match, look at their Instagram game or the brand collaborations RCB players do - it's planned much better than most startups plan their annual marketing calendar. Entertainment sell > actual game.
Fifth/ pure fan population game 🔢
Bangalore gets the advantage of it's neighbouring state Andra Pradesh not having a team (yet) and attracts those fans to RCB. Oh, this might change with Ram Charan (the actor) launching new IPL team in 2024.
The viewership during the Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) match on Jio-Cinema crossed 24 million. In the current IPL 2023 season on the online live-streaming platform Jio Cinema, this is the highest-ever viewership.
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Their social game is truly remarkable but what really makes RCB's fan following this massive is the brand loyalty they have built over the years with consistent and memorable work they do! RCB for life :')