Pro Kabbadi League returns to caravan style but with 3 cities

After a long Covid hiatus, the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) has returned with its multi-city format and will allow fans back to the stadium but has limited venues to three.

The upcoming season 9 starting October 7 will be held across Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad as against 12 cities in 2019 when PKL season 7 had travelled to cities like Mumbai Ahmedabad, and Kolkata, among others.
Anupam Goswami, CEO of Mashal Sports and PKL’s League commissioner, said they have a limited number of venues this season to restrict Covid risk exposure. But he added that they will be looking at adding more venues.

"This year we have gone to three best stadiums, out of which Bengaluru has historically given the best crowds. These are franchise assets and they have to come together to make it work. It would seem logical to add more venues but the experience of three venues in Season 9 will be internalised by teams and the league and see how it works out. If we look at multi-city sports in Europe, the inter-city movement is far easier versus India. We like to take it to more cities but the learnings of this initiative will have to be seen first," Goswami told Moneycontrol.

The league commissioner added that the way things are changing there has to be some manifestation on the ground. "We will be looking at what can be done in stadiums for engagement like using technology for closer association with sports. The icons have to communicate more with fans. What we do as an indoor sport will be emulated by other indoor sports. We will set benchmarks," he said.

But the issue, Goswami pointed out is that there are very few indoor stadia designed for spectator experience in India. "In India, there is no dedicated stadium for indoor sports. There is only one for kabaddi in Patna. So, the media rights become very important and then there is gate money."

The revenue matrix

Gate revenue will make a comeback after two years, which will add to franchise earnings that get over Rs 1 crore from gate collection. "Some of our franchisees which own other sports teams talk about how kabaddi is making sense to them. Teams owners are talking favourable of the league," said Goswami.

Some of the PKL franchises have reportedly said that the strong share coming from the central revenue pool and team sponsorships has brought them closer to breaking even and for some to even making profits. U Sports, which owns PKL franchise U Mumba, earns around Rs 21 crore to Rs 50 crore in sponsorship revenue and another Rs 6 crore comes from central pool share, co-owner Spratik Sen had told Brand Equity while discussing the financial performance of the company in 2018-2019.

However, whether the league has broken even, Goswami did not divulge details but said that PKL is on the cusp of its 10th season and that how many sports leagues will be able to make it to 10 seasons.

"We were the first league to expand from 8 teams to 12. We expanded ahead of other leagues that are better established and we expanded by 50 percent in significant geographies and with significant investors," said the Mashal Sports CEO.

In 2017, more teams were added resulting in more matches at around 138 in season 7 (2019) as compared to 60 matches in season 4.

The Indian Premier League (IPL), one of the biggest sports leagues, also added two new teams this year and is expected to see an increase in its brand value due to the expansion which will result in more revenues and two more sponsors. IPL also saw fierce bidding for its media rights earlier this year which will fetch the Board of Control for Cricket in India Rs 48,390 crore.

Goswami pointed to PKL's media rights in 2017 which fetched Rs 900 crore for a period of 5 years for seasons 8 to 12. This means each season Mashal Sports gets Rs 180 crore from media rights out of which it shares 80 percent with franchises with teams earning Rs 12 crore from the central revenue pool.

"We are the only league outside cricket that has gone through that process. Other leagues will have to show some similar process. If you look at the media rights agreement of 5-year period seasons 8-12 and compare it with IPL, we are ahead," he said.

Star ownership

However, Star winning the media rights of PKL had come under the scanner as the network owns 74 percent in Mashal Sports and this conflict of interest was raised as an issue by franchise owners who believe that PKL's media rights are not getting the right value and its true potential has been capped.

Despite the conflict and the impact of the pandemic, PKL is seeing traction from advertisers and viewers.

It is estimated that the league's ad revenue will increase from Rs 120 last year to Rs 150 crore in season 9.

"Sports like PKL attract local and small advertisers which struggled during the pandemic but they are coming back strong. So after two years, PKL will make a strong comeback in terms of viewership and advertisers but the base has been small. But there will be growth for these kinds of leagues," said Karan Taurani, senior vice-president, Elara Capital.