The Pro Kabaddi League, or the PKL, is a men’s Kabaddi League in India launched in 2014. The league is usually broadcast on Star Sports, but the Covid-19 pandemic forced Season eight to be postponed until 22nd December 2021. The PKL is sponsored by Star Sports Pro Kabaddi and Vivo Pro Kabaddi. Here is a summary of the pro Kabaddi league.
Inception
The Pro Kabaddi League was created as a professional men’s league due to the influence of the Kabaddi tournament at the 2006 Asian Games. The formats in the Indian Premier League inspired the PKL’s game formats. The franchise-based model of the PKL required that teams interested in participating pay a fee of up to US$250,000.
Most sports critics doubted whether the Pro Kabaddi League would succeed. During its inauguration, many leagues in India had been trying to emulate the business model of the India Premier League. Additionally, there were very few well-known Kabaddi players as compared to cricket.
However, Kabaddi was very popular in grassroots community settings, and the Pro Kabaddi League attracted numerous metropolitan and rural viewers. They became the primary target of advertisers, bringing sufficient attraction to the league and sparking its success.
The PKL’s first season was held from 26th July to 31st August 2014. The season’s format was as follows:
- double round-robin matches,
- two semi-finals,
- third-place games, and
- final games
Eight teams played in the first edition, recording 56 first-round and four play-off stage games. The first game in the Pro Kabaddi League was played between Jaipur Pink Panthers ad U Mumba on the 26th of July.
That year’s final was between the same two teams on 31st August at Sardar Vallabhai Patel Indoor Stadium in Mumbai. Jaipur Pink Panthers won 35-24, becoming the champions of the Pro Kabaddi League’s inaugural season.
Viewers
In its first season, the PKL was seen by 435 million viewers or 43.5 crores. It was only second to the Indian Premier League that year, which received 552 million views (55.2 crores). That season’s PKL final between U Mumba and Jaipur Pink Panthers garnered 86.4 million views.
As a result, the PKL’s broadcaster (Star Sports) announced the following year that it would purchase a 74% stake in Mashal Sports, the Pro Kabaddi League’s parent company. To be well-informed, you can also read more about Pro Kabaddi League on the internet.
New Formats
The PKL added four new teams during the 2017 and 2018-19 seasons and changed game formats. Teams would be split into divisions (zones) for those seasons, but the league soon returned to the regular double round-robin format starting from the 2019 season.
So far, Patna Pirates have dominated the Pro Kabaddi League, winning the tournament thrice. Five other teams have won the tournament once. They are U Mumba, Jaipur Pink Panthers, Dabang Delhi, Bengal Warriors, and Bengaluru Bulls.
Patna Pirates is the only team in the Pro Kabaddi League’s history to defend their title thrice. The PKL’s current champions are Dabang Delhi.
Teams and Stadiums
The current teams and stadiums in the Pro Kabaddi League are as follows:
- Bengal Warriors– the Netaji Stadium, with a stadium capacity of 12,000. It is located in Kolkata, West Bengal.
- Bengaluru Bulls– the Kanteerava Stadium, with a stadium capacity of 4,200. It is located in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
- Dabang Delhi FC– Thyagaraj Sports Complex, with a stadium capacity of 4,924. Located in Delhi.
- Gujarat– Eka Arena, with a stadium capacity of 4,000. It is located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
- Haryana– Motilal School of Sports, with a stadium capacity of 2,000. Located in Sonipat, Haryana.
- Jaipur Pink Panthers– Sawai Mansingh Indoor Stadium, with a stadium capacity of 2,000. It is located in Jaipur, Rajasthan.
- Patna Pirates– Patliputra Complex, with a stadium capacity of 3,500. It is located in Patna, Bihar.
- Puneri Paltan– Shree Shiv Sports Complex, with a stadium capacity of 4,200. It is located in Pune, Maharashtra.
- Tamil with a 5,000-capacity stadium, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
- Telugu with a 5,000-capacity stadium, Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, in Hyderabad/Vizag, Telangana.
- U Mumba with a 5,000-capacity stadium, Sardar Vallabhbhai Stadium, in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
- UP Yoodha with a 5,000-capacity stadium, Babu Banarasi Stadium, in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
Prize Money
Season 6: ₹3 crores for the winner, ₹1.80 crores for the first runners-up, and ₹1.20 crore for the second runners-up.
Season 7: ₹3 crores for the champions, ₹1.8 crores for the runners-up, ₹90 lakh for each of the losing semifinalists, and ₹45 lakh for fifth and sixth place.
Individual Prices:
- RS 15 lakh for the most valuable player
- RS 10 lakh for the best raider
- RS 10 lakh for the ace defender
- RS 8 lakh for the sports debutant of PKL
- RS 3.5 lakh for the best female referee
- RS 3.5 lakh for the best raider referee male
Conclusion
Despite doubts about its success before its inauguration, the PKL has garnered millions of views and support from Metropolitan and rural areas and has even acquired sponsorship from well-known brands. The Pro Kabaddi League is undoubtedly one of India’s most successful sports leagues. You may also like to download Neuratron AudioScore Ultimate Crack.