Poker Sports League bets on virtual play to counter Covid blues

The coronavirus almost played spoilsport for Dabur India Chairman Amit Burman-owned Poker Sports League (PSL), which has been held live every year since 2016. Unable to hold the league live, PSL-owner Mind Sports League has taken the online route for its third season and is holding the first-ever virtual edition of the league.

The online qualifiers for the virtual edition of PSL started from October 23 and the selection process of the poker players will happen between December 7 and 9 this year.

So, what's different this year?

Instead of the five-day on-ground event, the virtual league will go on for two months with two to three matches per week. PSL virtual matches will begin from January next year and the finale will be between February 19-21.

This edition of PSL will have a prize pool of Rs 1.8 crore.

Also, instead of six teams, the digital version will have eight.

"Interest in teams has gone up for PSL. When it comes to investments it is around Rs six to seven crore over five years for a team. And we are looking at a return on investment in three years and 3x returns in about 10 seasons," Pranav Bagai, CEO and Co-Founder, Poker Sports League, told Moneycontrol.

Going virtual has also given PSL the chance to reach out to a wider audience as Bagai and his team are looking at striking a deal with video streaming players to stream the league.

"We are looking at OTT (over the top) platform tie-ups this year for PSL. OTT would open up a whole new market for us because we will be piggybacking on their user base, which is growing. We are in advanced talks with the top three to four OTTs like Disney+Hotstar, MX Player, Jio. In 10 days, we will have an agreement signed," said Bagai.

Along with closing the streaming rights deal, Bagai is also in talks with sponsors for title sponsorship, co-powered and associate sponsorship deals.

"Compare live with online, our cost of production has come down. A live event would cost around Rs four crore but an online event is significantly lower. While we were pitching Rs two crore for the title sponsorship of the live event, for the virtual which is the first one, we are pitching Rs 80 lakh. So far, there has been a good interest and we will be able to close title sponsorship in the next two days," said Bagai.

He added that there is interest from luxury car brands, sunglasses, as during virtual poker facial expressions count for a lot. "We also want to target gaming laptops, headphones. We are not asking much this year so that we can partner with the right brands and that's why we have kept the price point low," said Bagai.

Despite offering sponsorship deals at a lower price for the virtual edition, Bagai thinks that there will be no impact on the growth of the league.

OTT would open up a whole new market for us as we will be piggybacking on their growing user base. We are in advanced talks with top OTTs like Disney+Hotstar, MX Player, Jio and will have an agreement signed in 10 days.

"With our interface, we can have more branding options. The green screens give us an opportunity. Also, sponsors' participation in the live league was limited. They had a boot camp, selection ceremony and the event. Now, we can drive the content a lot more. So, sponsorship interest grows because they are involved with the league for a longer time. Plus, nobody has seen poker content in India," Sidhharth Mishra, Head of Productions, Poker Sports League, told Moneycontrol.

How are they managing the virtual edition of PSL?

"Because of COVID-19, we had to shift to online mode. The challenge was that with Zoom calls or any other such platforms, the windows keep shifting. So, we had to build an in-house Zoom video call-like platform. This was the biggest challenge. The second was maintaining the broadcast quality. So, we shipped 30 shoot kits along with green screens, microphones, cameras, lights to all poker players," Mishra.

Also, Bagai said, "Two things always change at someone's place that is background and lighting. So, we made sure these players had green screens which we can edit in real-time. Going online meant a lot of changes because our team was used to doing things for the live event. So, we had to invest in technology, people and lots of research.

Bagai said around Rs 3-4 crore has been invested to convert PSL to the virtual edition.

And this is why the virtual version of PSL is here to stay.

"The attraction for live PSL is high with team owners. This is why we are going to have two seasons a year --- one virtual and one live. In January, we will conduct the virtual edition and the live version later in the year. We have signed a 10-season contract with team owners for one virtual and one live edition of PSL," said Bagai.

When it comes to card games in India, games like Teen Patti and Rummy are more popular. Poker which is a relatively new sport in India is just picking up and online poker has seen significant growth in India in the last few years. Currently, there are three million poker players in India. Even Bollywood stars like Aamir Khan, Minissha Lamba play poker online. Globally, it is estimated that poker is a USD 20 billion industry whereas in India it is worth around Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,200 crore.

This is why Bagai believes there is room for growth for both Poker as a sport as well as for PSL.

Talking about PSL's growth, Bagai said, "From the revenue aspect, we are targeting 200 to 300 percent revenue this year and over the next five years we aim to make this company (Mind Sports League) 30 to 40x of what it is today."

"From a participation perspective, from 5,000 unique people trying out for season two, and for season three 8,000 to 9,000, for the virtual edition we are looking at over 20,000 participation," Bagai added.

Burman, who is the key investor in PSL, has put around Rs 17 crore in Mind Sports League. He aims to create awareness about poker as a mind sport as the game in India is still considered by many as gambling.