WWE has been very keen on entering the Indian market. With the fifth largest GDP, India with time has become a major investment hub for sports and entertainment industry. WWE has been working hard to capitalize on the Indian population. The company in its last tour tried to use Jinder Mahal as a catalyst to build fan base in India but that didn’t give desired result. However, that hasn’t stopped the company’s desire to have a stronger fan base.
WWE will be making another strong move to capture the attention of Indian audience with the help of WrestleMania 35 as they launch WWE live coverage in 2 more languages. Rajesh Kaul, Chief Revenue Officer, Distribution and Head – Sports Business, Sony Pictures Networks India Private Limited:
“The ‘#WWEKAMAHAYUDH’ campaign is our way of presenting the strong narrative of the WWE’s biggest event and give more fans across India the chance to enjoy the family-friendly action. There is a demand for WWE in local languages in Tamil Nadu & Andhra Pradesh and that is why we are introducing Tamil and Telugu commentary in those regions. The telecast of WrestleMania 35 in four languages will make WWE’s biggest event of the year accessible to a larger set of audiences. In addition to this, we are increasing fan engagement and for the first time in the history of Sony Pictures Networks in India, we are hosting seven special screenings of WrestleMania 35 across six cities- Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata for WWE fans.”
The event which is already historic given it is the first time women will be in the main event became even more historic for Indian audience. WWE had for a long time covered India with only Hindi. That left majority of the South Indian audience out of equation as Hindi isn’t a language that popular down there. By introducing Tamil and Telugu, the company hopes to include a larger Indian audience in the frame.
Live and Exclusive on Sony Ten 1 and Sony Ten 3 (Hindi) channels on 8th April 2019 from 2.30 am IST