Three weeks since its opening, the Hero Indian Super League Season 4 has recorded a cumulative reach of 81 million viewers.

This reach is 20 per cent higher compared to entire viewership of the 52 games of the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017, which had a cumulative reach of 68 million viewers, according a statement released by broadcaster Star India

The cumulative viewership in urban areas was 45 million, while rural areas recorded 36 million viewers for a period of three weeks.

In terms of total billion minutes of viewing, the league aggregated 36 per cent higher viewership as compared to the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017

“It is thrilling to see the ISL set new benchmarks in the world of football. The response that the league has received from football fans across India is very encouraging. It is the biggest season in the history of the league, and we look forward to the teams as they progress and continue to put up a stellar competition,” Star India spokesperson said. The opening game of Hero Indian Super League Season 4 recorded 7.4 million average impressions; which is double the India v/s USA opening game at U-17 FIFA World Cup 2017.

ISL Season 4 began on November 17. A total of 95 matches will be played in the 2017-18 season among 10 teams including two additional teams - Bengaluru FC and Jamshedpur FC.

Each of a 10 teams will play in a home-and-away format in 90 games. The two-legged semi-finals of the ISL league are scheduled to take place in the second week of March 2018.