Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire.

It has
the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in
a language they understand. Sport can create hope where once there was
only despair. It is more powerful than government in breaking down racial
barriers Nelson Mandela

SPORTS LEAGUES
Sports leagues comprise of teams made of individual athletes competing on
a national or international scene. These teams are owned by individuals from
diverse background comprising of corporate, film stars, sportsmen etc.
Usually in these types of leagues due to involvement of various business
houses large amount of money is pooled in and huge investments go in.
Few Sports leagues across the world

Formula 1 (Auto Racing)

NASCAR(Auto Racing)
American League (BaseBall)
National BasketBall Association (NBA)
English Premier League (Soccer)

Sports Leagues in India

Athletics Indian Athletics League (IAL) - to be launched

Badminton Indian Badminton League (IBL) - Launched in 2013;
Indian Premier League (IPL) - Started in 2008, into its 7th edition
Champions League T20 (CLT20) - Launched in 2009, into its 6th edition
Indian Cricket League (ICL) - From 2007 to 2009 (Now defunct)
Football I-League - Launched in 2007, and is in its 7th edition this year
National Football League (NFL) - From 1996 to 2007
Indian Super League (ISL) Finished its first edition on 24/12/2014
Hockey India League (HIL) - Launched in 2013 (2 editions over, next in
2015)
Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) - Inaugurated in 2014 (first edition was a big
hit)
World Kabaddi League (WKL) - Launched in 2014
International Premier Tennis League Finished its first edition in
December 2014

PRO-KABADDI

Kabaddi made its debut in Asian Games in 1990 and since then India has
won it on each occasion. On top of it India has won the Kabaddi World Cup on
last 5 occasions. According to federation data there are 3,944 Kabaddi
leagues in India.
Pro Kabaddi is an initiative of Mashal Sports, which is driven by Piyush
Pandey (Ogilvy & Mather), Anand Mahindra (Mahindra & Mahindra), Rajiv
Luthra (Luthra & Luthra Law Offices) and Charu Sharma (Indian
commentator, quizmaster and Managing Director of Mashal Sports) who is
the force behind conceptualizing and organizing the League.
Key partners included Star Sports (Broadcaster), Ogilvy & Mather, World
Sport Group, and the International Kabaddi Federation (IKF), Asian Kabaddi
Federation (AKF) & Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI).
The league which was played for over 5 weeks was covered by international
broadcasters. Star Channels broadcasted the league with prime time
coverage in both Hindi and English commentary, on Star Sports 2, Star
Sports 2 HD and Star Gold.
WSG (World Sport Group) Asias largest sports marketing, media and event
management company were the official commercial and event partners of
the Pro Kabaddi League. Pro Kabaddi League had robust marketing
strategies. Each franchisee had their own team colors and star players.
An official Pro-Kabaddi website, www.prokabaddi.com, Twitter handle
@prokabaddi and Facebook page ProKabaddi was created where fans can
follow the latest scores and engage on social media interactions.

The league has taken our indigenous sport of Kabaddi to new levels of
professionalism, benefitted all stakeholders involved in the ecosystem of the
game and players have become role-models for the youth.
This bold and revolutionary step has highlighted the new, modern,
international and competitive face of Kabaddi throughout the length and
breadth of the country.
The Pro Kabaddi League has advanced the sports reputation and made it
reach in international circuits. It has brought together Indian and
international players, acclaimed Indian personalities and sports authorities.
Pro Kabaddi has set the ball rolling to make the sport visible, attractive,
professional, and remunerative and, for a large section of Indias athletic
youth, aspirational.
FORMAT OF THE LEAGUE
Eight-city league with games played on a home & away basis.
Each team played each other twice.
8 venues hosting 4 days of home team action.
Matches were played as per the current international rules and
regulations of the IK but with minute alterations, to enhance its appeal
on television.
AUCTION
Hosted by the Travelling Gavel Bob Hayton, who has over 30 years of
auctioning experience
Budget cap - Rs 60 lakhs/franchise
Selection
4 players from Category A
6 players from Category B
1 player from Category C
1 player from domestic buffer area.
Players participated : 96 (Indians 72 , Foreign 24)
Apart from India, players from Turkmenistan, Iran, Japan, South Korea,
Pakistan, UK, Pakistan, Kenya, Bangladesh and Taiwan were a part of the
auction.
FRANCHISES

Bengal Warriors : Kolkata (Kishor Biyani, Future Group Chief)

Bengaluru Bulls :Bengaluru (Kosmik Global Media)
Dabang Delhi : Delhi (Radha Kapoor- daughter of YES Bank chief
executive Rana Kapoor)
Jaipur Pink Panthers: Jaipur (Abhishek Bachchan)
Patna Pirates: Patna (Rajesh shah)
Puneri Paltan: Pune (Sumanlal shah , Insurekot Sports)
Telegu Titans : Vizag (Veera Sports)
U Mumba : Mumbai (Ronnie Screwala)

MARKETING STRATEGY
The key was to overcome three main challenges

Making Kabaddi an aspirational sport

Ensuring a good stadium experience
Catch the attention of a new generation of TV viewers

THE STRATEGY

Strategy involved making people fascinated by the game of Kabaddi

and its tactics
Kabaddi was launched as a sport high on intensity, energy, fitness and
skill.
A 360 degree marketing campaign was designed through outdoors, on
ground promotions, radio.
Marketing strategy and campaign was based on this itself with slick
films that shift the perception of the game to a global one.
Enormous efforts were put in to reposition, repackage and revamp the
game for the new generation.
The campaign involved promoting not only the tournament but the
sport at large since it was the sport which first had to be connected
with the audience rather than the league.
Raw and fresh concepts were made and televised on high scale thus
people were able to shrug off their preconceived notions about the
game and understood that this rustic sport is actually an intelligent
game
Aggressive promotion strategies were designed to create awareness
and build a sense of excitement around the league.

In November 2013 STAR committed an investment of Rs 20,000 crore

to develop multiple sports culture in India and PKL is one those
commitments to foster the same
TV advertisements showed Kabaddi in a new avatar all together.
League tuned into prime time slot after 7.30 which brought the game
closer to viewers.
Players were interviewed in Hindi making them comfortable and
allowing the viewers to connect with them.

PROMOTION MIX
PRODUCT

Game shifted from earth to synthetic mats (mud to mat transition)

State of the art indoor stadiums - Infrastructures were built to provide
facility for all the matches wherever the league travelled
Specialists were hired from contact sport like rugby, boxing and
wrestling to create a good television experience
15 different cameras were used to cover the picture from each and
every angle
Ultra motion cameras to camera to capture the smallest details
Crane cameras for over head shots
Steady, hand held cameras to focus on the crowd
Edgy graphics were designed by an Israeli company

In depth statistical analysis was displayed on televisions to improve the

perception of the game being a serious sport and to engage more
viewers
Games of the rules were tweaked like only 30 seconds were given for a
raid
Players wore shirts which provided space for logos of sponsors
White electronic scoreboards were used
Lycra uniforms were used
High-grip shoes were provided to the players which gave the game a
modern look
Game was made televisual Players where bright outfits ,enter the
arena with loud music pyrotechnics, plumes of smoke and colourful
strobe lighting

PLACE

Large scale campaign strategies were made to attract viewers so that

they remove any pre conceived notions about the game

Game was launched on multiple STAR networks at prime time which

increased the number of users

Sports Channels: Star Sports 2 and Star Sports 2 HD in English

commentary ensured sports enthusiast remain glued with the game

Entertainment channel while Star Gold in Hindi commentary. This was

done to target the consumers who do not consume sports as
entertainment on a routinely basis.

The game was played in big cities which enabled to catch media
attention as well

PRICE

No direct costs associated with the consumption of entertainment

products on television therefore it is important to look at perceived
costs

A relatively economical game - a synthetic mat costs 2-4 lakhs

Shorter in duration thus it reduced the time associated with a viewer to

spend on a single match

The price of the ticket in the stadiums were kept low (apprx
200/person)
League was held in caravan format which allowed the management to
handle the tournament easily and lower down the costs
Inaugural auction saw 470.20 lakhs being spent by all 8 franchises
combined
Rakesh Kumar India captain was picked by Patna Pirates for 12.8
lakhs three times his base price (4 lakhs) which was the highest

PROMOTION

Pan India activation strategy was designed

Malls with maximum footfalls were targeted. Game units were placed
inside the malls (obstacles in shopping complex) which allowed users
to experience the thrill of the game.

This introduced viewers to real time aspect of the game and created
curiosity among them which in turn increased the footfall in stadiums
Celebrities
like
Salman
Khan,
Shahrukh
Khan
,Sachin
Tendulkar,Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra,
Ajay Devgn and Anupam Kher added the glamour quotient to the
league
A promotional deal was established with Salman Khan and makers of
the movie Kick (even though kicking is against the rules in Kabaddi)

Patna Pirates roped in Vivek Oberoi , created a theme song Dhool

Chata De by Prasoon Joshi which Kailash Kher sang.
The affiliation of celebrities added a sense of credibility to the league

2 sets of ad films were conceptualized

(1)Short stunning visuals/Action packed moments (10 second

teasers)
Gave the feel of the sport without revealing it
Amplified using #GuessTheGame on social media
Aimed at highlighting inherent athleticism of the
game

(2) Drew parallel between spirit of the game and life

One film featured school children while the older
men. A game of Kabaddi was depicted via those
films.
The tag line 'Jeet Te Hai Wohi, Jo Haar Nahi Maante!
tried to show the spirit of the game.
Life bhi Kabaddi hai yaar campaign tried to show
the grit , perseverance one needs to achieve what
seems to be out of reach just like in the game of
Kabaddi

Creating a star: Every team needs a star player to run campaign

around him. Campaigns were made by different teams to tell about the
players and make them household names thus in turn helping their
team and Pro Kabaddi at large in promotions.
Repurchase was taken care by the quality of the product

DIGITAL STRATEGY
SOCIAL MEDIA

Twitter handle @prokabaddi and Facebook page ProKabaddi was

created where fans can follow the latest scores and engage on social
media interactions.

Everything was organic -No ads, paid promotions, asking fans to retweet ,no contests
ProKabaddi twitter handle was also not being promoted on television

Strategy
Building the buzz/momentum from before(May) 1 st match on 26th
July
Pre game community building
Constant key word monitoring and replying
Replying to queries and regular re-tweeting

Live tweeting the matches as they unfolded

Constant engagement with fans and Kabaddi enthusiasts pre-game

and on match day

Constant engagement with teams, team owners,

journalists, magazines, sport enthusiasts , influencers

Signature Selfies : shared by celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan,

Shahrukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Sachin Tendulkar present in the stadiums
and their tweets about the experience added to the buzz around the
game.

celebrities,

OTHER DIGITAL MEDIUMS

An official Pro-Kabaddi website www.prokabaddi.com was launched

Matches were streamed live on starsports.com

Paid application to watch matches and videos

BUSINESS MODEL

Owner to spent 1-1.5 crore on team rights for 10 years

Owners revenue will come from
Sponsorship
Ticket Sales
Prize money
Owners shed approximately 5-6 crore which included salaries of the
players and their travel

PRO KABADDI - A SUCCESS!!!

WHY WE SAY THIS?
For the Sport/Players
Players became household names and got the distinction they
deserved thus giving a brand image to the game - Anup Kumar, Rahul
Chaudhari, Maninder Singh (even when these players have won Asian
games they were earlier not known to the common masses)
Helped in finding new talent for India Rahul Chaudhari(Vizag) , Ajay
Thakur(Bengaluru) and Surinder Nada(Mumbai) to name a few
Rahul Chaudhari raider Telegu Titans says he is now getting marriage
proposals and daily 300-400 friend requests on Facebook
Kabaddi provided the luxury of endorsement deals to the players and
gave them the opportunity to earn in lakhs
Kabaddi the game of soil is making heroes out of sons of soil
Already being compared with what Kerry Packer did for cricket by
organizing World Series cricket and Sky Sports did with Premier league
in 1990
For the Sponsors/Associates

Shakti Pumps (sponsoring Jaipur Pink Panthers): Helped firm enhance

brand recognition in the rural areas says Ankit Patidar ,VP marketing .
Customers discuss the game in chaupals held by their distribution
team
Future Group (owns franchisee in Bengal Team): organized Kabaddi
matches outside Big Bazar outlets which struck the chord with the
masses and increased footfalls. They even hope to break even in just 3
years

On-air and on-ground integration with Fevicol displaying the line

Fevicol Ki Pakad, Chhootegi Nahin was shown displayed on LED
screens in the arena and on TV during the live matches when a tackle
results in the entrapment of the raider player.

Kabbadi is an ideal game for Fevicol to associate considering the fact

that it involves strong holds, tackles and bonds which is in line with the
brands messaging of strong bonding.

Amul also came out with their famous Amul girl in a poster stating
Kha-buddy

Online Buzz

12 hours into the league:

PKL received about 140 million impressions on Twitter
6.05 million tweets
3500 new fans added
More than 30000 Facebook comments
2.3 billion Impressions in 37 days (duration of the league)
Over 90% comments and reactions had a positive tone
25% conversations were initiated by women
Series culmination day produced more than 25000 tweets

Television

1st day 22 million viewers tuned in to watch PKL (TAM data)

Over 200 million watched in the first 8 days
First 15 days : PKL 288 million viewers ; IPL had 453 million viewers ;
FIFA World Cup 129 million viewers
In 37 day league: 435 million viewers tuned in to Star which is thrice
the number of people who watched FIFA World Cup 2014 in India
IPL had 552 million thus on the basis of numbers Kabaddi did became
Indias 2nd most favorite sport
86.4 million tuned in to watch the final match between Jaipur Pink
Panthers and Mumbais U Mumba (FIFA world cup final 24.6 million
;WWE Wrestlemania 32.2 million ; Hockey World Cup final- 10.4
million ; Wimbeldon mens final 6.1 million)
The game of all genders/age groups : Over 39% viewership was
females ; 22% children thus breaking the stereotype that it was a male
dominated sport.

In words of Charu Sharma and Anand Mahindra brought Kabaddi

out of the shadows into the sunlight

PATH OF SUCCESS!!

The Bandwagon effect

Tapping into all the promotion strategies at once created a

band wagon effect which got viewers to be involved with the
game.

Involvement of celebrities and word of mouth played critical

role in helping reach sustainability and increase the reach

Time
The league was launched during an away series of Indian cricket
team thus not competing with Indias most popular game cricket.
Penetration

Star TV has expanded its footprint to more than 45 cities thus

Pro Kabaddi penetrated further

Collaboration with rural brands like Mahindra and Big Bazar

will added to the penetration of the game

Brand purpose

With more than 130 million people living 1 sport was not
enough thus there was a lot of space for other sports.

Identification , targeting and repackaging the sport in a way so

that it appeals to the audience is the purpose of the brand

Rejuvenating the product from the roots up

Synthetic mats, lycra uniforms, high-grip shoes & electronic

scoreboards changed the rural barefoot sport forever

The high-adrenaline game needing athleticism and international rugby

cameramen have helped dramatize the action

Brand properties

Strong visual & sonic properties

Logos & identities of all 8 teams in the league

Tagline claimed to be The new face of Kabaddi which shed the belief
of Kabaddi being an old Indian game

Innovative comms that dramatize the brand idea

Each team was owned or associated with big Bollywood stars

Top stars & business tycoons were guests at the matches, visibly
tweeting & clicking selfies during the games.

Branding & communication was gladiatorial - It appealed to young

males, dramatized the sports rougher, physical side & featuring slick,
violent visuals.

No Faigue: Ensured it got over quickly just like IPL (37 days) thus the viewer
did not felt fatigued

Being Indian: Indians are replacing the idea of being western as being cool
and becoming more comfortable with the idea of being Indians and adapting
to indigenous platforms
Kabaddi as a game

Mass following

Low-cost sport

Made it modern, can be scaled up.

Few rules Full-on contact sport that needs no equipment whatsoever

Short & intense

Demands speed, stamina, strength & strategy

Fun to watch

The money angle: Usually price money in domestic Kabaddi competitions

ranges from 25000k-3 lakh which is divided among players, coach and other
staff which makes it approximately 6000 each. The league was already
served players paying in lakhs fro a 37 day tournament

FUTURE ROAD/IMPROVEMENTS

Generating more interest in the game: SMS quiz contests, social

media competitions, associations with various chains of schools and
colleges.

Rules:

 People may still not be familiar with the rules of the game so
scrolling through the rules so that viewers get familiarized will
come in handy.
Also constant tinkering with the game of the rules should be
avoided and PKL and IKF should have the same standard of rules
so that the viewer does not get confused

Creating icon
For a sport to be successful one needs to have a role model/icon.
Kabaddi should
try to build that one role model
Meet the star campaign where few lucky get to meet a star player of
the team.
Running documentaries on a particular player will help in building
up his profile.

Addition of social welfare expenditure by companies towards

sports at both rural and national level will add to the growing
popularity and improve the sport further

Ensuring teams represent appropriate regions:

Tamil Nadu and Punjab contribute the most number of players to
Indian Kabaddi but no teams from those regions were available.
To keep a level playing field for the fans teams from strategic
regions should also be floated in

Creativity :
SuperBowl do not have an yearly auction so that interests in the
players is maintained and viewers are able to identify with their
players something on same grounds can be done here also
During off season keep the viewers engaged by having player
negotiations among teams , having fantasy league games ,pre
season preparations

Making the game Global

The game is most popular in Asia hence it is played in Asian
games. With the success of PKL , IKF (International Kabaddi
Federation ) can push for Kabaddi to be included in common
wealth game and Olympics at a later stage
Creating a unique fan experience

 Even with low price cost of the seats went empty during the
events thus its important to create a unique experience for the
viewers
Baseball is known for Hot dogs and coke; Football for its fantasy
games; Basketball for instant replays similarly PKL should try and
invent something new which will create fan experience , like give
artists (acrobats, magicians) to showcase their talent in intervals

Getting Advertisers/Sponsors
Sponsors played a wait and watch game though their interest
kept increasing as the league progressed
PKL should combine on ground and on air packages henceforth
Franchises hopeful of breaking even by third year
Viewership numbers and experience can add to the number of
sponsors next season onwards
Sponsorship opportunities include buying space on jerseys or
ground rights

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