The initial reaction to the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) was openly sceptical. While everyone agreed that there needed to be investment in sports other than cricket, a professional kabaddi league based on a franchisee format, like the Indian Premier League, seemed way too risky. The general sentiment was that it was a largely rural sport and it would be difficult to expect crowds in urban centres to come in and watch kabaddi.
A few tweaks to the game and a year later, the naysayers have been silenced. The first edition of the Pro Kabaddi League, held in August 2014, attracted a whopping 435 million viewers, second only to the Indian Premier League. In fact, the opening night saw a total of 22 million viewers, ten times more than the number of viewers who tuned in to watch the inaugural match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Stadiums were packed to capacity. It was a rip-roaring success, the kind of success which awakened sports-watchers to the fact that sports beyond cricket can thrive in India as long as they get an appropriate platform.
One year onward, there’s a heady optimism in the air with the start of the second season. Star Sports, the official broadcasters and the title sponsors last year, got in on the excitement early right from the cricket World Cup (remember the last ‘Mauka’ ad with Salman?) and even ran a special PKL show called ‘Hey Buddy, Khel Kabaddi’, which included audience participation. Business Standards reported that there could be up to 200 percent growth in sponsorship rates.
Big names, big players
Lending further credence to the fact that the PKL is exciting property right now are some of the names associated with the franchises. Some of India’s biggest names from the corporate world are owners of various franchises, while even Bollywood has its fingers in the pie.
The biggest name is probably Abhishek Bachchan, who owns the Jaipur Pink Panthers franchise. Abhishek was ever-present throughout the first season constantly tweeting about his team and egging the Panthers on from courtside. Bachchan’s involvement added the Bollywood touch to the league. Thanks to him, the PKL got even more eyeballs as Bollywood stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan all attended the inaugural match.
Another Bollywood connection to the PKL is Ronnie Screwvala. The founder and CEO of the UTV Group, Screwvala owns the Mumbai franchise. Kishore Biyani, the owner and founder of the Future Group is another big ticket owner, of the Bengal Warriors franchise .
But one of the greatest achievements of the PKL is to make household names of kabaddi players. Consider Anup Kumar. One of the world’s best kabaddi players, he was instrumental in the Indian team's winning gold at the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games. Yet, it’s been his stellar performance with U Mumba last season that shot him into the national limelight.
Or take the case of Rakesh Kumar, the captain of Patna Pirates, which finished third last year. He’s been a part of the Indian national kabaddi team for almost 12 years, and has been won countless gold medals. He was even awarded the Arjuna Award in 2011. Yet, all that success alone didn’t translate into financial rewards – Kumar still had to continue with his off-season job as a chief ticket inspector with the Indian Railways. Now, that will have changed after Rakesh Kumar turned out to be the highest pick at a price of Rs. 12.8 lakh.
What’s in store for the second season?
This year’s tournament has just started but it promises to be even bigger. Charu Sharma, the brainchild behind the PKL, is kicked about the second edition.
“It is going to be bigger and better than last year,” said Sharma to IndianTelevision.com. “The previous edition ended even before people got into it. While they wanted tickets, the stadiums were full!”
The draft for the second season happened on May 25. The highest bid was for Hadi Oshtorak, an Iranian national who was snapped up by the Telugu Titans for Rs. 21.1 lakh. Telegu Titans also shelled out Rs. 20.1 lakh for Oshtorak’s Iranian teammate, Meraj Sheykh. The fact that a foreign player commanded such a massive sum is further proof that kabaddi is spreading its wings beyond Indian shores.
Charu Sharma, Marshal Sports and Star Sports should be lauded for packaging a rural sport that used to be played in dusty, Indian villages and making it glamorous. However, the challenge will come from this season onward. The novelty value might have played a big role in the success of the first reason but expectations will be higher this time around. But, if nothing else, there’s no doubt that kabaddi has demonstrated that there’s space for other sports beyond cricket this year.
The second season started on July 18 with a thrilling victory by U Mamba over Jaipur Panthers by only a point. U Mumba won their second match as well, beating Bengaluru Bulls and sit comfortably at the top of the table. Going by the first four matches though, the competition is going to be far more intense this time around.
A few tweaks to the game and a year later, the naysayers have been silenced. The first edition of the Pro Kabaddi League, held in August 2014, attracted a whopping 435 million viewers, second only to the Indian Premier League. In fact, the opening night saw a total of 22 million viewers, ten times more than the number of viewers who tuned in to watch the inaugural match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Stadiums were packed to capacity. It was a rip-roaring success, the kind of success which awakened sports-watchers to the fact that sports beyond cricket can thrive in India as long as they get an appropriate platform.
One year onward, there’s a heady optimism in the air with the start of the second season. Star Sports, the official broadcasters and the title sponsors last year, got in on the excitement early right from the cricket World Cup (remember the last ‘Mauka’ ad with Salman?) and even ran a special PKL show called ‘Hey Buddy, Khel Kabaddi’, which included audience participation. Business Standards reported that there could be up to 200 percent growth in sponsorship rates.
Big names, big players
Lending further credence to the fact that the PKL is exciting property right now are some of the names associated with the franchises. Some of India’s biggest names from the corporate world are owners of various franchises, while even Bollywood has its fingers in the pie.
The biggest name is probably Abhishek Bachchan, who owns the Jaipur Pink Panthers franchise. Abhishek was ever-present throughout the first season constantly tweeting about his team and egging the Panthers on from courtside. Bachchan’s involvement added the Bollywood touch to the league. Thanks to him, the PKL got even more eyeballs as Bollywood stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan all attended the inaugural match.
Another Bollywood connection to the PKL is Ronnie Screwvala. The founder and CEO of the UTV Group, Screwvala owns the Mumbai franchise. Kishore Biyani, the owner and founder of the Future Group is another big ticket owner, of the Bengal Warriors franchise .
But one of the greatest achievements of the PKL is to make household names of kabaddi players. Consider Anup Kumar. One of the world’s best kabaddi players, he was instrumental in the Indian team's winning gold at the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games. Yet, it’s been his stellar performance with U Mumba last season that shot him into the national limelight.
Or take the case of Rakesh Kumar, the captain of Patna Pirates, which finished third last year. He’s been a part of the Indian national kabaddi team for almost 12 years, and has been won countless gold medals. He was even awarded the Arjuna Award in 2011. Yet, all that success alone didn’t translate into financial rewards – Kumar still had to continue with his off-season job as a chief ticket inspector with the Indian Railways. Now, that will have changed after Rakesh Kumar turned out to be the highest pick at a price of Rs. 12.8 lakh.
What’s in store for the second season?
This year’s tournament has just started but it promises to be even bigger. Charu Sharma, the brainchild behind the PKL, is kicked about the second edition.
“It is going to be bigger and better than last year,” said Sharma to IndianTelevision.com. “The previous edition ended even before people got into it. While they wanted tickets, the stadiums were full!”
The draft for the second season happened on May 25. The highest bid was for Hadi Oshtorak, an Iranian national who was snapped up by the Telugu Titans for Rs. 21.1 lakh. Telegu Titans also shelled out Rs. 20.1 lakh for Oshtorak’s Iranian teammate, Meraj Sheykh. The fact that a foreign player commanded such a massive sum is further proof that kabaddi is spreading its wings beyond Indian shores.
Charu Sharma, Marshal Sports and Star Sports should be lauded for packaging a rural sport that used to be played in dusty, Indian villages and making it glamorous. However, the challenge will come from this season onward. The novelty value might have played a big role in the success of the first reason but expectations will be higher this time around. But, if nothing else, there’s no doubt that kabaddi has demonstrated that there’s space for other sports beyond cricket this year.
The second season started on July 18 with a thrilling victory by U Mamba over Jaipur Panthers by only a point. U Mumba won their second match as well, beating Bengaluru Bulls and sit comfortably at the top of the table. Going by the first four matches though, the competition is going to be far more intense this time around.
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