The Rise of Pro Kabaddi League

The sports viewership in India has primarily been restricted or dominated by cricket. Though it is still having the biggest piece of the viewership pie, the contribution of other sports has increased in this decade. The Pro Kabaddi League has emerged as the biggest benefactor in it.

Let's have a look at the various dimensions of the fastest growing sports league in India:

Inception

The Pro Kabaddi League was started by by Mashal Sports Pvt. Ltd and Star India Pvt. Ltd in 2014. Mashal Sports is owned by Anand Mahindra and Charu Sharma and are backed by Broadcasting giant Star India. Charu Sharma cited the success of Indian Premier League as an influence and said that,"mere sport works well in India, but if you package it better, it works better." The PKL uses a franchise-based model just like IPL ,the league began with eight teams.There were doubts over whether the PKL would be successful as there were many leagues in India that were trying to emulate the IPL's business model . Though International Kabaddi matches had the potential to attract a large number of TV audience, the success of a domestic league was still a question mark.

Viewership

Smart production and packaging of content on TV, alongside an attractive format and presentation of Kabaddi has seen the Pro Kabaddi League transform how people are engaging and enjoying the league. Star India had announced that the cumulative growth in viewership of the PKL has risen rapidly at a rate of 51% over the course of its first 4 seasons. Season 5 recorded even better viewership statistics with an astounding 50 million viewers tuning in on the first day.

Though the sport is traditionally played in Haryana, Delhi(rural), Maharashtra and some parts of Rajasthan, but when it comes to viewers the southern states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have impressive numbers.The increasing popularity of the sport has compelled Star Sports to telecast the league in Kannada, Telugu and Tamil also. The format of the competition (away-home and zone-wise) and prime-time slot have helped the league to penetrate to a mass audience.

Monetary Growth

From a commercial perspective, we can say that PKL has created a platform that is giving sponsors high returns on investment, which, in turn, has fueled the interest of a number of leading brands. Also, the widespread reach of the Star TV network, more commercial deals are expected to drive the value and marketability of the league along with increasing the Kabaddi fanbase.

Star India was able to generate a profit of 45 crores in Season 2 of PKL, a figure that shot up to Rs 200 crore by the end of Season 6. In PKL season 7, the highest paid Siddharth Desai will draw ?1.45 crore which is a mammoth jump over ? 12.8 lakh that Rakesh Kumar had drawn as the top pay for Season One. Not only has the money gone up, the influx of the players looking to participate in the cash-rich league also skyrocketed to a total of 200 players in this season.

Sponsorship

While the inaugural season witnessed no major sponsors, by the time Season 6 rolled out, there were over 70 brands associated with the league and the franchises.In season 5, for the first time in PKL, the league had a title sponsor with the rights being acquired by Vivo for almost ?300 crores. This was the second highest sponsorship deal in India after the IPL title sponsorship. Apart from Vivo, the channel has roped in Tata Motors and Dream 11 as this year's associate sponsor. The interest from the big brands have definitely cooled down this year because of being already engaged with IPL and ICC cricket world cup. Due to the big sporting events happening this year, Star Sports also followed a conservative approach towards the league promotion.

Ad Revenue

For the sixth season, the ad rate for a 10-second slot during matches was estimated to be around Rs 1.5- 2 lakhs. Star Sports sold almost all the ad inventory last year and earned somewhere around a range of 200-250 crores. This year might witness a drop because of other sporting events and a decline in the viewership in North India.

PKL is the only non-cricketing property in India encashed by advertisers. In terms of reach, ratings and cost efficiency, it's nothing less than IPL. For brands that want to target male or rural audience, but do not have the kind of budget to be associated with IPL, PKL is the best entry point.

With setting growth records in the previous seasons, PKL is facing some challenges this year with the viewers' interest being cooled down because of other events and limited promotion, it will be quite interesting to watch how things pan out this season.