How non-cricketing sports can fuel the economy of Sports leagues in India
A marketing strategy and ideas to make the league more TV-friendly, combined with the popularity of the sport across the country, turned PKL into the second most-watched sports league after the IPL
By Punit Balan
The Indian sports ecosystem has been categorised as the Cricket vs the Rest challenge for such a long time now that the whole discussion around whether other sports can survive in the presence of such an all-encompassing behemoth has lost its novelty.
I don’t think we need to continue debating the relevance of non-cricket sports, as the sports ecosystem in India has changed drastically since the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) was launched in 2007. Instead, the focus should shift to how the increasing popularity of non-cricket sports can be a catalyst for the kind of change that has been discussed and dreamed about since India won the 1983 ICC Cricket World Cup and cricket became a ‘religion’ in the country.
Flourishment of non-cricketing leagues
In the last 17 years, over 15 leagues of various sports were launched on similar lines of the IPL, ranging from the traditional football and hockey leagues to Pro Panja and Global Chess League. The majority of these leagues have not only survived but have also grown stronger, attracting increasing sponsorships and investments.
Ultimate Kho-Kho, which brought glitz and glamour to the traditional Indian sport, managed to raise Series A funding from a UK-based private investment firm after just one season and has given many other league promoters hope for an encore.
The success of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) is a prime example of how sports leagues can capitalise on growing popularity. When PKL launched in 2014, there were many sceptics, as few people knew how a league based on a traditional Indian sport would fare.
But a clever marketing strategy and innovative ideas to make the league more TV-friendly, combined with the widespread popularity of the sport across the country, quickly turned PKL into the second most-watched sports league after the IPL, with 222 million viewers in 2022 according to Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) data.
The league has also attracted a strong deck of sponsors and significantly improved the financial status of players participating while catalysing various grassroots-level feeder events. It is encouraging to see this shift in public perception spreading to many other sports in which India has started gaining recognition on the international stage.
However, the bright future for Indian sports leagues and their sporting ecosystem as a whole, does not merely stem from how the majority of these leagues have managed to find a footing after the initial challenges, but how the popularity of non-cricket sports is evolving in the country.
International success and government support
As per The Ormax Sports Audiences Report: 2024, Cricket, Football, and Kabaddi are the top three sports in the country with an audience base of 612, 305, and 280 million respectively. Hockey with 154 million followed by Badminton with 145 million, Athletics with 126 million, and Volleyball with 108 million also have substantial viewership within the nation.
Ever since India successfully hosted the 2010 Commonwealth Games and showcased its sporting might by finishing second with over 100 medals, the fan base of Olympic sports in the country has been on the rise and more and more youngsters are looking to make a career in sports disciplines than can lead them to Olympic glory.
The Indian government has also recognised the soft power sporting success provides on the world stage and the country’s sports budget has only been growing with every passing year. This has resulted in India winning two individual Olympic gold medals apart from winning at least one medal in every Olympics since 1996.
According to the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) data, Neeraj Chopra’s gold medal-winning throw at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics had 60 million views on the IOC’s streaming platform, which was more than the entire Indian audience for the 2016 Rio Games.
Rise in sponsorship and investments
Today, top international events like the Asian Hockey Championship, FIH Pro-League, India Open badminton, Indian football team’s World Cup, and Asian Cup qualifiers have started witnessing packed stadiums and the top performers have earned celebrity status among a sizeable fan base.
This also means that corporates and brands who find cricket sponsorship or investment in cricket leagues a far too costly affair would be all the more interested in associating themselves with these sports and sportspersons.
It is evident from the fact that big corporate houses like JSW and even Adani have been investing in multiple non-cricket leagues. At the same time, someone like Anand Mahindra has been instrumental in launching the Pro Kabaddi League and very recently the Global Chess League.
The ‘Sporting Nation – Building a Legacy’ report by GroupM ESP states that emerging sports are gaining traction in terms of sponsorship reaching INR 1528 crore which is 21% of the total share
This growing popularity of non-cricket sports disciplines in India could provide a major boost to the league culture with more and more corporates willing to invest in the development of these sports.
Looking ahead, despite the ever-growing prominence of non-cricketing leagues, it is crucial to understand that a one-size-fits-all approach won’t work and each league will need to find its niche and unique selling points to attract fans and sponsors. To understand how innovations can lead to positive changes in the way sports are played, we can look at an initiative that was launched a few years before the IPL.
The Premier Hockey League, which was held between 2005-2008, was the first to introduce the concept of four quarters in hockey which was earlier played in two halves of 35 minutes each. It also introduced a new way of conducting the tie-breaker and both these innovations have now been adapted to regular hockey rules.
I do not doubt that India has only just taken baby steps into the world of sports leagues. If we continue to build the foundation for some of these non-cricket sports through substantial investment, our nation can create a sustainable league structure similar to those in the US or Europe, making sports a profitable business venture for all.
Financial Express