Mumbai: A sizeable and loyal fan base is critical to the business plans of any sporting club or franchise. According to the findings of Ormax Trac20, a syndicated research being conducted by Ormax Media during the sixth edition of IPL, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have the most sizeable base of loyal fans in their respective markets, given them an advantage over the other teams in the league.

While CSK led the loyalty chart even in the pre-phase of the research conducted before the IPL started in March, RCB have shown a significant increase in their loyalty score during this edition of the tournament. Kolkata Knight Riders are a close no. 3, followed by Mumbai Indians at no. 4.

Commenting on the results, Shailesh Kapoor, CEO - Ormax Media, said: "Team loyalty is important for advertisers, as sponsoring a team that has a higher loyal fan base will lead to a higher marketing ROI. In our understanding, three factors contribute to team loyalty: consistency of performance, star players and team stability over years. CSK have a huge advantage across these three factors."

The Ormax Trac20 research is being conducted across 11 cities, in three phases, with a total sample size of 9,000. The research is targeted at advertisers considering IPL or cricket in their marketing plans. The research is tracking the performance of the various brands advertising during this year's IPL, both in terms of recall and effectiveness.