Building a future for Kabaddi in India

Overview
Sports in India are generally classified into two major categories - Cricket and the Non-Cricket
sports. The very basis of this classification gives us an indication of how heavily the sports
scenario in India today is skewed in crickets favor. This divide is omnipresent in all the aspects,
be it infrastructure, ecosystem around the sport, monetary support or the popularity amongst
the audiences.
A recent data on annual sports viewership in India in 2014 drives home the point:

Sports viewership in India in 2014

3% 1%
5%

Cricket

10%

Wrestling
Football

11%

Kabaddi
70%

Tennis
Others

Source: TAM data for CS4+, Live+ Non-Live

Reasons for polarization

Crickets evolution over the years

The 1980s was a watershed decade for the Indian cricket. Crickets dominance in India started
during this period and over the years, the game has dynamically evolved to attract the masses,
thereby retaining the leadership position by huge margins.
Indias Cricket World Cup victory in 1983 built immense following for the sport in the country.
As fans reveled in victory, the new found success of the Indian team in the international arena
for the first time made the sport dearer to the average Indian.
In 1985, Indian team won the World Championship, beating Pakistan in the finals. In 1987, the
World Cup was held in the subcontinent, allowing the masses to experience the biggest

cricketing event first hand. During the late 90s, the Fab 4 of the Indian cricket dominated the
mind share of the fans.
While these high points increased crickets following, other reinventions over the years have
ensured loyal fans. The 1992 World Cup was the first event to have matches played under
floodlights, colored jerseys were introduced in the game. To spice up the game, only two
players were allowed to field outside the ring in the first 15 overs and 'Crictainment' was born.
In 2007, a new form of cricket was introduced at the highest levels in the form of T20 World
Cup. Subsequently IPL was introduced in 2008, which increased the involvement of viewers
manifold. Currently, around 200 days of live cricket is broadcasted In India.
The infrastructure development for the game has also kept pace with the growing following.
Currently, India has around 25 International level stadiums where matched are scheduled.
Countless number of coaching academies have ensured crickets penetration even in rural
areas. Even the Indian teams demographic profile has changed over the years to reflect the
increasing penetration of cricket and involvement of masses in the game. While in the 1990s,
most of the players were from Maharashta, Karnataka and Delhi, today we have superstars
from Jharkhand, UP, Tamil Nadu and various other states, often from their remote towns and
villages.
All these factors have ensured crickets dominance over the years.
Journey of Other sports

While Cricket has regularly evolved, other sports in our country have failed to keep pace. Sports
like hockey and football have failed to reinvent themselves with the times to cater to the
changing tastes of the viewers. There has been a lack in the efforts to market the game or
develop heroes from the players, which has led to the absence of mass followers and
consequently the lack of funds and sponsorships. The absence of infrastructure and lack of
facilities further inhibits the popularization of these other games among the masses. This in
turn lead to a further cash crunch as sponsors (corporates) do not find any incentive to pump
money in a sport that has no viewers, thus creating a vicious cycle.

Impact on the sports media industry

For the sports media industry, this polarization creates huge problems as it leads to sporadic
viewership patterns among consumers. The viewership of sports channels peaks during special
cricketing events and dips otherwise. On an average, the sports viewership in India account for
only 2.4% of the total TV viewership.
These low levels of viewership sink the advertisement rates as advertisers pay on the basis of
eyeballs generated for their ads (No. of viewers) . Considering the fact that 70 % of the

revenues in the media industry come from advertisement sales, these sporadic viewership
patterns and the corresponding revenues lost during the absence of major events has become
the primary business challenge for the sports media industry.
Developing a multi-sport culture in the country will help to bring variety and volume in the
content and give the media industry enough spectrum of events to be broadcast at varied times
of the year to keep the viewers engaged.
However, the key element to be emphasized in adopting this solution is the need to make these
alternate sports a part of peoples daily lives, a part of their aspirations. Only when a sport gets
popularized among the masses, become a part of the peoples daily routine and achieves an
emotional connect that it will it drive them to watch it.

Leading the change Star TV

Being the market leader in the sports media, Star has taken the first step to bring a multi-sport
culture to the country. Star Sports has forged ties with various stakeholders and started
initiatives like Indian Super League, International Premier Tennis League, Hockey India League
and Indian Badminton League. These leagues have started ushering a change by helping
develop the overall ecosystem and infrastructure for these sports.
Star Sports Pro Kabaddi League, started in 2014, was a major step in this direction. It was a first
sincere attempt by anyone to bring a rural Indian sport back to the mainstream and develop a
sincere following for it.

Pro Kabaddi League (PKL)

PKL was launched by Star Sports, and Mashal Sports to take this indigenous sport to staggering
new heights. It started as an 8-city caravan style league- with teams playing against each other
twice in period of July/ August 2014. It was backed by International Kabaddi Federation (IKF),
Asian Kabaddi Federation (AKF) and Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI).
The 8 teams for PKL are:

Bengal Warriors
Bengaluru Bulls
Dabang Delhi
Jaipur Pink Panthers
Patna Pirates
Puneri Paltan
Telugu Titans
U Mumba

Business houses, media & sports companies & Bollywood celebrities lined up to buy the
franchises and India witnessed the 1st ever auction of Kabaddi players.
Momentum built once the league started, and soon social media was abuzz with the popularity
of the league. Celebrities like Sachin Tendulkar, Shahrukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Amitabh
Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Virendra Sehwag and many others made their presence felt during
the matches, enthusiastically cheering for teams.

Impact created
Viewership Statistics

Some statistics for the inaugural season of Kabaddi are:

Star Sports Pro Kabaddi has been watched by 13.2 Cr viewers over its first 29 days. Over
similar number of programming hours IPL was watched by 14.9 Cr viewers and the FIFA WC
2014 by 3.8 Cr viewers.
72.5 Mn viewers in opening week with 32% women & 22% children viewers
The final had a TVR rating of 3.7 with 39% female viewership the levels usually seen in IPL
Star Sports Pro Kabaddi was broadcast across Star Network and it lead to a significant
increase in engagement on Star Gold. In fact in the latest week, Star Golds Primetime slot
TVR is 61% higher compared to pre-Kabaddi.
In its first year, PKLs cumulative reach surpassed all other sports leagues and came second
only to IPL (Reach is the measurement that gives the number of people who have seen the
tournament for at least one minute during its telecast).

All India Cumulative Reach ( In Millions 2014)

IPL
Pro Kabaddi League
Indian Super League
FIFA World Cup
Hockey India League
Indian Badminton League
NBA
Wimbledon
EPL
Calcutta Football League
I-League

560
435
429
159
123
63
59
55
33
24
11
0

100

200

300

400

500

Source: Sports India Watch, Business Standard, 12th November 2014

600

The inaugural edition of PKL also reinforced the belief that Kabaddi can be developed as a sport
for the urban youth.

Total TV viewers

PKL Season 1 Viewers

PKL Season 2 Viewers

28%
Rest Of
India

32%

Rest Of
India

Metros
72%

Metros

Rest of
India

41%
59%

68%

On the social media front, Pro Kabaddi Leagues first season had a desirable impact and it built
a respectable following. Pro Kabaddi conversations were in abundance on social media
platforms and it registered 1.47 billion impressions .It was adopted by various popular players
in the public domain which helped it gain more popularity and signaled its acceptance by
viewers.

PKL Season 2

For the second season, the results have been even better. PKL season 2 witnessed a stunning
opening with a 45 per cent viewership increase as compared to the inaugural season. The
opening day of the tournament saw #ProKabaddi trending across India. Hotstar, the online
broadcaster of Pro Kabaddi, witnessed a massive interest from metros and the large cities in
season 2. There were 10.1 million viewers in the first week vs last season where the entire
tournament amassed 0.7 million viewers on the digital platform.
In the overall tournament, PKL Season 2 clocked 26 million online viewers (unique visitors), as
compared to 700,000 unique visitors on the property in the last season. On television, PKL

Metros

Season 2 recorded 53 per cent growth in viewership over the first season (this is data for the
first 49 matches released by TAM).
Encouraged by the response of the viewers, from next year PKL will have two seasons a year,
slotted in JanuaryFebruay 2016 (before T20 World Cup and IPL) and in July-August 2016

The Star Difference

The success of the first season of PKL was no plain luck. A proper marketing strategy and
campaign was put in place to reposition, repackage and revamp the game for the new
generation. Best in class content delivery was ensured to cater to the tastes of the urban
population
A team of global experts in the field of production, graphics and analytics was roped in to
project Kabaddi in its glamorous avatar. Star collaborated with agencies like IMG, Prometheus
and Allston-Elliot to spruce the graphics and on-screen analytics to a world class level. As many
as 15 cameras were used to cover every piece of action during the matches.
On the marketing front, a 360 degree campaign on TV, outdoor, radio, print and digital played
an important role in driving conversations and buzz. The on-air efforts were augmented by
strong on-ground activations. Focused fan engagement led to filled stadiums and an amazing
spectatorship experience. To spruce up the glamour quotient and increase the appeal amongst
urban masses, large numbers of celebrities were roped in to promote the sport.
For the second season, the squad strength has been bolstered and players have been brought
from other countries like Iran, Poland, South Korea and Pakistan. The increase in squad size
allows for the teams to include more local players and young talent, but also cope with injuries
better.
The 'in-vision coverage' has been introduced, where the commentators are much closer to the
field of play. In order to have the sport reach more viewers, the matches are broadcast in five
languages - English, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu and Marathi. Additionally, the league is being
broadcast in 109 countries, including United States, United Kingdom and Middle East.
While the season 1 was focused on re-discovering the game, season 2 efforts have emphasized
on deepening of engagement and appreciation for the sport and its heroes.

The next leap forward

However, the journey of Kabaddi has just begun. It just involves 35 days of visibility on the
national front. There are some major challenges that need to be tackled before this sport can
be developed into a full-fledged national phenomenon. The infrastructure, talent pool and a
whole ecosystem of academies and sponsorship avenues need to be developed. The sport
needs to be popularized amongst the masses and engagement has to be done with government
and various private players to build a sustained future for Kabaddi.
The task ahead involves scaling this sport to the frenzied levels that cricket enjoys today in
India. The target is to upscale and make Kabaddi relevant and exciting for the urban youth and
make it a major sport of India in the next 10-15 years.
Deliverable-

Your team is expected to make a ppt detailing a business plan to develop Kabaddi as a major
sport of India in the next 10 years.
Ppt should not be more than 10 slides
Among other analysis and recommendations, the plan should cover development of
infrastructure and players, and how to leverage the success of initial seasons in achieving the
objective.