Kabaddi has fast emerged as the Indian sport to celebrate. The best non-cricketing sport in the country on all parameters of success – from commercial conversions to creating sporting heroes.
Who made it happen?
Mashal Sports – the Star India-owned subsidiary to run the Pro Kabaddi League in the county.
The occasion to celebrate?
The 30-day countdown to India’s biggest sports league in terms of venues, teams, duration and participation.
How to celebrate?
With the first Pro Kabaddi League Forum in Mumbai. Dateline – July 28, Wednesday.
Mashal Sport in association with InsideSport.co is organizing the first Vivo Pro Kabaddi League Forum in Mumbai to proudly celebrate the meteoric rise of India’s indigenous sport that has emerged as a benchmark for sports leagues in India. The nation today proudly celebrates, socializes around and actively follows the sport.
Read: star-aims-make-kabaddi-big-cricket
The forthcoming PKL season has already scaled higher peaks, as the biggest non-cricket league in the country. The league now has geographical representation across 11 states, 12 franchises and more than 130+ matches spread across 13 weeks.
The player auction that concluded last month, netted a consolidated purse of Rs 46.99 crores for 227 players selected over the two days of intense bidding. The PKL has also created a benchmark as Mashal Sports picked 4,710 aspiring players to educate and train them for the player auction pool. On commercial front, kabaddi has already emerged the most lucrative bet for brands. Vivo has fetched the title sponsorship at Rs 60 crore per annum in a five-year 300-crore deal. That is the biggest ever for any non-cricket spots league in India.
Read: sheer-professionalism-driving-kabaddi-to-pinnacle
The Forum will feature an exclusive line-up of speakers, including leading kabaddi players, franchise owners, dignitaries from international kabaddi federations, representatives from successful global sports leagues, and pioneers of Pro Kabaddi, Star Sports.
“InsideSport.co is delighted to be associated with the biggest sport brand in the country. The business of leagues is not as lucrative as it appears on the face of it. Breaking even is a task. Amidst this scenario, when Mashal pledged its commercial commitment to kabaddi, commercial viability was questioned. The company, under the leadership of Mr Anupam Goswami, has shown it to the world, the how a good business plan, self-belief and high levels of commitment can catapult a non-descript, rural sport into a highly successful commercial model. Kabaddi in three years and four seasons has reached a stage from where it can only grow further. I take this opportunity to thank Mashal Sports for giving an opportunity to InsideSport.co to associate with the fastest rising sport in the world, and also congratulate Team Mashal for this unprecedented success,” says Ashish Chadha, founder director, Insidesport.co
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The day-long forum will educate and enlighten the audience and sports fraternity, kabaddi in particular, on various aspects of the sports through the following sessions.
Mashal Sports has silenced the ‘Doubting Thomases’ with remarkable success – commercial and social – of the sport that once in every four years would be discussed briefly for a certain gold medal at the Asian Games, or at regional level Olympic-fold sporting events.
Now the scenario has changed. The fan-base is growing. The sport is growing.
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