How Media Covered RCB's IPL Win vs Stampede Tragedy: A Case Study in News Priorities
TL;DR: When RCB won IPL 2025, Indian media went wall-to-wall with celebrations. When 11 fans died in a stampede at the victory event hours later, coverage lagged significantly. It took a viral video from journalist Vikrant Gupta and public outrage to force balanced coverage. This case study reveals "excitement bias"—how positive, popular news crowds out uncomfortable truths—and how political leanings shaped even a non-political tragedy's coverage.
In May 2025, India experienced a day of soaring joy and sudden sorrow. Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) clinched their maiden IPL cricket title after 18 years of heartbreak. Within hours, a celebratory event outside Bengaluru's M. Chinnaswamy Stadium turned tragic—11 fans died and dozens were injured in a stampede.
This incident became a revealing case study in media priorities: how different outlets balanced coverage of a feel-good sports victory versus a deadly tragedy unfolding in its shadow.
The Day Everything Changed
The Victory
RCB's first-ever IPL trophy was massive news. After years of being the "perennial bridesmaids" of IPL cricket, the team finally broke through. The win trended #1 on Google India, and the city of Bengaluru erupted in celebration.
Television channels and newspapers splashed triumphant headlines:
- "History Made in Bengaluru!"
- "RCB Finally Break the Jinx"
- "Virat Kohli's Dream Realized"
Sports pages glorified the team's achievement with wall-to-wall coverage. This was the narrative everyone wanted.
The Tragedy
But as thousands of fans gathered for a victory event at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, disaster struck. Despite Bengaluru Police having denied permission for a victory parade due to security concerns, a stadium gathering was organized anyway.
The crowd became uncontrollable. Barriers were breached. Panic ensued.
11 fans lost their lives. 56 others were injured.
How Media Initially Responded
The Lag in Tragedy Coverage
As reports of the stampede emerged, there was a noticeable lag in equivalent prominence compared to the victory coverage.
On many TV news tickers, the tragedy was:
- Briefly mentioned
- Treated as an unfortunate footnote
- Overshadowed by continued debates about RCB's road to victory
Entertainment and emotion held the spotlight longer than discomforting questions about safety lapses.
The Coverage Imbalance
| Coverage Type | Initial Response |
|---|---|
| RCB Victory | Wall-to-wall, celebratory, extended primetime |
| Stampede Deaths | Brief mentions, ticker updates, minimal primetime |
| Safety Questions | Largely absent in first 12 hours |
| Accountability | Not discussed until Day 2 |
This imbalance persisted for nearly a full news cycle before public outcry forced correction.
The Turning Point: Vikrant Gupta's Viral Video
The coverage began to shift when senior sports journalist Vikrant Gupta posted a video that went viral.
Gupta strongly criticized RCB's management and authorities for holding the fan event despite police warnings:
"Bengaluru Police had denied permission for a victory parade, yet a stadium gathering was organized and led to uncontrollable crowds. Why was the event held anyway? Who is responsible now for this disaster?"
His video:
- Called out the initial reluctance to assign blame
- Questioned why celebration was prioritized over safety
- Demanded accountability from RCB management and cricket authorities
- Went viral with millions of views
This commentary highlighted a key media bias: an initial reluctance among many mainstream outlets to assign blame during what "should" have been a purely celebratory news cycle.
RCB's Tone-Deaf Social Media Post
Perhaps the starkest example of misplaced priorities came from RCB itself.
While the tragedy was still unfolding, RCB's official social media handle posted a celebratory video calling the fan turnout "pure love"—showing cheering crowds and players.
The backlash was immediate and severe.
As NDTV reported: "Given the incidents that had taken place, and the lack of any response addressing it up to that point, RCB received a lot of criticism for the post."
RCB was forced to:
- Delete the "pure love" post
- Issue a belated condolence statement
- Face continued criticism for the delay
This sequence taught a lesson in optics: narratives must quickly shift from celebration to responsibility when lives are lost.
How Different Outlets Eventually Covered It
Regional Media: First to Prioritize the Tragedy
Kannada news channels in Karnataka and regional agencies gave the stampede urgent attention from day one:
- Eyewitness accounts reported immediately
- Detailed how poor crowd control led to panic
- Questions about safety raised within hours
This regional focus forced national media to follow up.
National TV: Delayed but Eventually Comprehensive
By Day 2, the tragedy led primetime debates—but with interesting political angles:
Republic TV pivoted to harshly criticize the continuation of festivities "despite fans dying" (a rare moment where Republic's outrage aligned with accountability).
NDTV India ran segments questioning whether "star-driven hype forced Virat Kohli and team into an unsafe event"—examining whether media-fueled frenzy pressures organizers to please crowds.
Print Media: The Language of Framing
The language used by different outlets revealed subtle biases:
| Outlet Type | Headline Framing |
|---|---|
| Sports-centric | "A joyous victory turned tragic" (focus on victory narrative) |
| General news | "Stadium stampede kills 11, safety failures questioned" (focus on tragedy) |
| Times of India | "Tragedy at RCB's IPL 2025 victory parade" (balanced but led with tragedy) |
The Political Angle: Even Tragedy Gets Spun
How did political leanings influence coverage of a seemingly non-political event?
Right-Leaning Media
Channels like Times Now Navbharat (often government-friendly) did not miss the chance to indirectly blame the Congress-led Karnataka state government for poor crowd control.
Panels asked: "Did local authorities fail the fans?"
This framing served a political purpose—Karnataka's government in 2025 was an opposition party (Congress), making them a convenient target.
Left-Leaning Commentary
Left-leaning commentators were more inclined to blame cricket administration and BCCI (which had leaders seen as close to the ruling party at the center) for prioritizing spectacle over safety.
This demonstrates how even a non-political tragedy gets filtered through existing bias lenses.
The Hathras Comparison: Celebrity vs. Rural Tragedy
The RCB stampede invited comparisons to another tragedy: the Hathras stampede in Uttar Pradesh (2024), where over 120 people died at a religious gathering.
| Event | Deaths | Media Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| Hathras stampede | 120+ | Brief national coverage, fleeting primetime |
| RCB stampede | 11 | Extensive national coverage, sustained debate |
Why the disparity?
The RCB stampede got more coverage because:
- Tied to a high-profile sports event (IPL is #1 Google search in India)
- Celebrity involvement (Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers)
- Urban, English-speaking demographic affected
- Visual content from the celebration preceding it
The Hathras stampede got less coverage because:
- Rural location
- Religious gathering (less "glamorous")
- No celebrity angle
- Happened to poorer, less media-visible community
This reveals a bias in news values: what's "relatable" or clicks-generating (cricket, celebrities) overshadows what's objectively more critical news.
The Excitement Bias: A Pattern in Indian Media
The RCB coverage exposed what we call "excitement bias"—the tendency for positive, popular news to crowd out uncomfortable news.
How Excitement Bias Works:
- Breaking positive story gets wall-to-wall coverage
- Negative development emerges but contradicts the mood
- Media reluctant to pivot away from feel-good narrative
- Public outcry eventually forces balanced coverage
- Course correction happens—but often too late
This pattern repeats across Indian media:
- Election victories celebrated before irregularities examined
- Corporate launches praised before job cuts mentioned
- Infrastructure inaugurations covered, but displacement stories buried
The Lesson for Journalists
News priorities must be swiftly realigned when human lives are lost. The thrill of a story should never override the responsibility to report the whole story.
What Consumers Should Notice
When you see wall-to-wall celebratory coverage, ask yourself:
- What might not be talked about?
- Are there any negative consequences being glossed over?
- Who benefits from this happy narrative continuing?
- What would the coverage look like if I read an outlet with different priorities?
In the RCB case, it was the lives lost in the very celebration being televised. Only by Day 2 did all outlets give that tragedy the attention it deserved.
Timeline: How Coverage Evolved
| Time | Coverage Focus |
|---|---|
| Hours 0-6 | Victory celebration dominates, stampede mentioned briefly |
| Hours 6-12 | Social media outrage builds, RCB's "pure love" post backlash |
| Hours 12-24 | Vikrant Gupta video goes viral, mainstream pivots |
| Day 2 | Full primetime debates on safety failures, accountability |
| Day 3+ | Political blame game begins, investigation announced |
Conclusion: A Cautionary Tale
The RCB IPL win vs. stampede coverage is a cautionary tale for Indian media and consumers alike.
For Media:
- Don't let excitement override news judgment
- Tragedy deserves equal weight to triumph
- Course-correct faster when lives are lost
- Recognize that celebrity news isn't inherently more important
For Consumers:
- Notice what media emphasizes—and what it glosses over
- Seek out regional and alternative coverage
- Don't let feel-good stories blind you to real issues
- Use platforms like The Balanced News to see multiple perspectives
The RCB victory was real and worth celebrating. But so was the need to mourn 11 deaths and demand accountability. A responsible media would have found space for both from the very beginning.
Instead, it took critical voices and public outcry to push newsrooms toward balance. That delay—that initial prioritization of celebration over lives lost—is the real story here.
Want to see how different outlets prioritize stories differently? Download The Balanced News - we show you what each side of the media spectrum is covering, and what they're ignoring.
Sources & Citations
- Times of India - Tragedy at RCB's IPL 2025 Victory Parade
- Economic Times - Vikrant Gupta's Viral Video Criticizing RCB
- NDTV Sports - RCB Face Severe Criticism for 'Pure Love' Post
- Al Jazeera - Hathras Stampede: What Caused the Deadly Crowd Crush
- The Balanced News - Indian Media Year in Review 2025
