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Essay / The rise of Indian sports leagues in the shadow of the Indian Premier League with national federations. Of these, two have enjoyed relative success despite being at an early stage in the life cycle of leagues in India. The Indian Super League (ISL), the professional football sports league modeled on the IPL, was launched in 2014, with significant promoter support and corporate backing on the franchise and sponsorship side. The Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), also launched in 2014, has had a unique success story, discussed in more detail in the next section. The remaining leagues, however, are not sustainable enough for organizers, private investors or the athletes themselves. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay Name a sport, and it probably has or has had a league in the last decade. Pro Kabaddi League: Raider of the Lost Art Kabaddi's success at the league level is a combination of several factors. It is a popular sport in rural strongholds and, more importantly, a sport that transcends socio-economic barriers. As a sport that would need a financial boost to become viable as a career option, corporate support is necessary, and this support would also have an external social benefit, given Kabaddi's relatively humble origins . From a corporate sector perspective, it was a relatively low-risk, low-investment sport compared to sports that have an international presence, and already established famous stars and athletes that generate player salaries in excess of total franchise revenue. In the absence of pre-packaged, pre-existing stars, Kabaddi's ceiling of potential was high. And thanks to broadcaster Star and league owner Mashal Sports (of which Star is now majority owner), PKL seized the opportunity. Savvy marketing, edits tailored to TV audiences, and an organic strategy to seek sponsorship premium and not negotiate below it. a sponsorship floor helped build the brand. Today, PKL is one of the few sports leagues in India where Indian players earn fees above INR 1 crore. Kabaddi has some inherent advantages that have been the key to its success. It is an indigenous sport that exists mainly thanks to the Indians. When packaged as well as the PKL, with the right combination of glitter and high-quality production, the concept was destined for success. The omnipresent presence of celebrities has been exploited. But the PKL had a truly unique product - one that required little presentation, relatively low investment and a media partner in Star India who promoted the event with supreme enthusiasm. PKL has top-notch local talent, an audience already present in the regions and pockets of North India, as well as a tier 2 and 3 urban awareness of the sport, coupled with the fact that Kabaddi does not feature not in most international multidisciplinary events. which facilitates the expansion and improvement of the league. IN 2017, PKL added 4 teams to bring the total number of teams to 12. This led to a 12+ week league with 138 matches, unlike the previous 5 weeks and 60 matches. . In fact, the PKL, more than any other league in India, replicates the North American structure of the NFL, MLB or even the NBA. ISL: football as a culture The ISL has taken responsibilityto create an IPL style football league with its huge untapped potential given the following that the PL and La Liga have among the Indian audience. His challenge was the limited interest in domestic football given India's relatively low ranking and importance in the international football scene, and bridging the gap between the I-League's offering, the traditional football league of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), and the one where the real demand lay, through international stars of different vintages. Unlike the IPL, domestic talent was not broad or deep enough at the time to compete with the EPL or other competitors, and the I-League itself had not been a successful model on the ground. For franchises, although the ticket size to own a franchise is much lower than that of an IPL team, there are limiting factors in terms of cost and revenue that make it a longer-term viability project than the 'IPL, which was essentially a plug and play model. . The need to recruit international talent to ensure workforce stability meant that expenses were significant from the start. Star India being a key promoter of the ISL, its marketing and outreach was big which brought it into mainstream awareness but on the revenue side of a franchise there is a huge gap since the model of revenue does not include media rights revenue. The central revenue pool was extremely large for a start-up league not called IPL, but gate revenue remained limited, with one club's senior management estimating that the season's total gate revenue was fall in the range of INR 1 crore, with salaries alone costing a franchise close to INR 16 crore in a given year. Growing expenses and ongoing viability challenges have not stopped the league from expanding, adding two additional franchises for the upcoming season and renewing the title sponsorship with Hero MotoCorp for a significant mark-up over the previous season. initial agreement. This despite a drop in attendance the previous season. There are future challenges that will need to be resolved but could end up helping league football in India in the long run. A unified Indian football league to replace currently competing structures, with promotion and relegation between the ISL and I-League, is the subject of a bill. debate in particular through a “key recommendation formulated by consultants appointed by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in a confidential report”. "League Structures Leagues must offer a unique value proposition that builds on the core offering and appeal of an already popular and successful sport, or they must fill a gap that exists due to lack of fixtures Otherwise, they risk being saturated and unable to leverage their revenues or footprints to grow their audience. of league: significant participation at the grassroots and minor league level to ensure a rapid supply of talent and viewers, and secondly, a wide window of 3 to 9 months per year to carry out the league each year. the success of the IPL even more astonishing, given that it was able to secure deals and broadcast ratings rivaling the NFL and PL on a pro rata basis despite lacking the latter criterion. League First Culture: Pros and Cons A premier league sports culture in India has both its pros and cons. The three main advantages are: a) visibility and.
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