New Delhi, Aug 3 : Kabaddi , an indigenous
contact sport in India, is witnessing a
resurgence, thanks to big-time commercial
sponsorship and prime-time TV patronage.
Riding on the IPL-style hockey and football
leagues, kabaddi has come up with not one but
two leagues to complement each other.
For long kabaddi has been dismissed as an
indigenous rustic sport not strictly fit to be an
Olympic discipline. India had to fight hard to
keep it as an Asian Games sport and won all
the seven gold medals ever since it was
introduced in 1990. All of a sudden corporate
honchos as well as Bollywood celebrities see it
as a sport tailor-made for prime time TV. Even
amazing is that many see kabaddi can
challenge the shortest format of cricket. The
Pro League has more or less taken on the lines
of the IPL, naming franchises after cities to
lure brand loyalty, whereas the World League
is pure diaspora sport for the expat Indians in
England, US, UAE and Canada and it is a huge
affair.
Abhishek Bachchan, UTV founder Ronnie
Screwwaala and Retail Moghul Kishore Biyani
have bought franchise rights for the Pro-
Kabaddi League while Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi
Sinha and rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh have
bought teams in the World League. The eight-
team Pro League opened to a packed crowd in
Mumbai July 26 and the World League is
scheduled to start Aug 9 with a power packed
opening ceremony at London’s O2 Arena by
Akshay.
What has baffled sports enthusiasts is the fact
that two leagues are vying for TV space that
too in a sport, which is not so popular in
urban India. The genesis of the World League
is in the success of the Kabaddi World Cup, the
brainchild of Punjab Deputy Chief Minister
Sukhbir Singh Badal. Charu Sharma, the man
behind the Pro-League, said it was while
commentating for the sport in the 2006 and
the 2010 Asian Games that the idea struck
him. Charu’s Mashal Sports, which is also
promoted by Anand Mahindra, is organising
the Pro-League.
“It was while commentating during the 2006
Asian Games in Doha that I realised the
pontential of the sport. Then it was in 2010
Asian Games the idea struck me why not start
a league,” Charu told IANS. The two formats
are completely different. The Pro-League
follows the international style while World
League is played according to the desi Punjabi
style.
Badal and former hockey captain Pargat Singh
are the main force behind the World Kabaddi
League. They want to take the sport to the
global stage and want to cash in on the huge
Indian diaspora in US, England, UAE and
Canada.
“The whole idea of the World Kabaddi League
started from the success of the Kabaddi World
Cup. In fact the league was telecast on a local
channel and the figures were encouraging
given the fact that it coincided with the T20
World Cup. Mr. Badal thought why not take it
to the next stage with a World Kabaddi
League,” Raman Raheja, chief executive of
World Kabaddi League, told IANS.
Raman said roping in Bollywood stars as team
owners was a conscious decision but it was
indeed tough convincing them. ”Honestly, it
was a conscious decision to rope in Bollywood
stars to own teams. It helps in attracting the
eyeballs. At the end the sport stands to gain
from it. But it was not easy convincing them,”
said Raheja.
Charu says getting Bollywood stars as team
owners is an advantage. But for them it was
also a challenge to convince the Bachchans to
pump their money in owning a team. ”It is was
tough convincing them to invest in a sport like
kabaddi. But is a sport which has a strong
Indian connect. Everyone has played this sport.
So we had a very compact plan when we
approached the team owners, who also found
an instant connect with the sport,” he said.
For the owners, now kabaddi is pure business
and they also expect quick returns, said
Raheja. ”On an average an owner is spending
Rs.5 crores to run a franchise for four months.
It is not a big investment for the owners. Since
the operating cost is not much, we expect
profits from the second edition,” said
Raheja. Charu has simple message for the team
owners.
“Sports ownership is very different from all
other forms of business. It is a privilege to
own a sports franchise. It may take three to
four years for the owners to break even but
the since it is a restricted property the
valuation of the team increases every year,” he
said. The team owners are also guaranteed a
fair share of TV revenues from host
broadcasters Sony, for World Kabaddi, and
Star, for Pro-Kabaddi.
“The World Kabaddi League is targetting the
Indian diaspora overseas. We are expecting a
good response from the ticket sales and TV
revenues. We are also trying to get a Pakistani
broadcaster since some prominent Pakistani
players would also feature in the league,” said
Raheja.
So is the World Kabaddi League competing
with Pro-Kabaddi League, Raheja said: “In fact
we are trying to complement each
other.” ”There is no way we are competing with
each other. The formats are different. By the
time World Kabaddi League returns to India
after the oerseas leg, the Pro-League will be
over,” he said. http://www.india.com/sports/kabaddi-is-now-cool-sport-thanks-to-bollywood-corporates-109400/
contact sport in India, is witnessing a
resurgence, thanks to big-time commercial
sponsorship and prime-time TV patronage.
Riding on the IPL-style hockey and football
leagues, kabaddi has come up with not one but
two leagues to complement each other.
For long kabaddi has been dismissed as an
indigenous rustic sport not strictly fit to be an
Olympic discipline. India had to fight hard to
keep it as an Asian Games sport and won all
the seven gold medals ever since it was
introduced in 1990. All of a sudden corporate
honchos as well as Bollywood celebrities see it
as a sport tailor-made for prime time TV. Even
amazing is that many see kabaddi can
challenge the shortest format of cricket. The
Pro League has more or less taken on the lines
of the IPL, naming franchises after cities to
lure brand loyalty, whereas the World League
is pure diaspora sport for the expat Indians in
England, US, UAE and Canada and it is a huge
affair.
Abhishek Bachchan, UTV founder Ronnie
Screwwaala and Retail Moghul Kishore Biyani
have bought franchise rights for the Pro-
Kabaddi League while Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi
Sinha and rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh have
bought teams in the World League. The eight-
team Pro League opened to a packed crowd in
Mumbai July 26 and the World League is
scheduled to start Aug 9 with a power packed
opening ceremony at London’s O2 Arena by
Akshay.
What has baffled sports enthusiasts is the fact
that two leagues are vying for TV space that
too in a sport, which is not so popular in
urban India. The genesis of the World League
is in the success of the Kabaddi World Cup, the
brainchild of Punjab Deputy Chief Minister
Sukhbir Singh Badal. Charu Sharma, the man
behind the Pro-League, said it was while
commentating for the sport in the 2006 and
the 2010 Asian Games that the idea struck
him. Charu’s Mashal Sports, which is also
promoted by Anand Mahindra, is organising
the Pro-League.
“It was while commentating during the 2006
Asian Games in Doha that I realised the
pontential of the sport. Then it was in 2010
Asian Games the idea struck me why not start
a league,” Charu told IANS. The two formats
are completely different. The Pro-League
follows the international style while World
League is played according to the desi Punjabi
style.
Badal and former hockey captain Pargat Singh
are the main force behind the World Kabaddi
League. They want to take the sport to the
global stage and want to cash in on the huge
Indian diaspora in US, England, UAE and
Canada.
“The whole idea of the World Kabaddi League
started from the success of the Kabaddi World
Cup. In fact the league was telecast on a local
channel and the figures were encouraging
given the fact that it coincided with the T20
World Cup. Mr. Badal thought why not take it
to the next stage with a World Kabaddi
League,” Raman Raheja, chief executive of
World Kabaddi League, told IANS.
Raman said roping in Bollywood stars as team
owners was a conscious decision but it was
indeed tough convincing them. ”Honestly, it
was a conscious decision to rope in Bollywood
stars to own teams. It helps in attracting the
eyeballs. At the end the sport stands to gain
from it. But it was not easy convincing them,”
said Raheja.
Charu says getting Bollywood stars as team
owners is an advantage. But for them it was
also a challenge to convince the Bachchans to
pump their money in owning a team. ”It is was
tough convincing them to invest in a sport like
kabaddi. But is a sport which has a strong
Indian connect. Everyone has played this sport.
So we had a very compact plan when we
approached the team owners, who also found
an instant connect with the sport,” he said.
For the owners, now kabaddi is pure business
and they also expect quick returns, said
Raheja. ”On an average an owner is spending
Rs.5 crores to run a franchise for four months.
It is not a big investment for the owners. Since
the operating cost is not much, we expect
profits from the second edition,” said
Raheja. Charu has simple message for the team
owners.
“Sports ownership is very different from all
other forms of business. It is a privilege to
own a sports franchise. It may take three to
four years for the owners to break even but
the since it is a restricted property the
valuation of the team increases every year,” he
said. The team owners are also guaranteed a
fair share of TV revenues from host
broadcasters Sony, for World Kabaddi, and
Star, for Pro-Kabaddi.
“The World Kabaddi League is targetting the
Indian diaspora overseas. We are expecting a
good response from the ticket sales and TV
revenues. We are also trying to get a Pakistani
broadcaster since some prominent Pakistani
players would also feature in the league,” said
Raheja.
So is the World Kabaddi League competing
with Pro-Kabaddi League, Raheja said: “In fact
we are trying to complement each
other.” ”There is no way we are competing with
each other. The formats are different. By the
time World Kabaddi League returns to India
after the oerseas leg, the Pro-League will be
over,” he said. http://www.india.com/sports/kabaddi-is-now-cool-sport-thanks-to-bollywood-corporates-109400/
