The ripple effect of the IPL's success has spilled over into virtually every other sport, driven by promoters working with national federations. Of these, two were relatively successful despite being early in the leagues' life cycle in India. The Indian Super League (ISL), the professional football sports league on the lines of the IPL, was launched in 2014, with significant support from promoters and corporate support regarding franchising and sponsorships. The Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), also started in 2014, has been a unique success story, discussed in more detail in the next section. The remaining championships, however, have failed to achieve sustainability for organizers, corporate investors or the athletes themselves. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Name a sport and it probably has or has had a championship in the last ten years. Lega Pro Kabaddi: Raider of the Lost Art Kabaddi's success at the league level is a combination of several factors. It is a popular sport among rural strongholds and, more importantly, a sport that overcomes socioeconomic barriers. As a sport that would need the financial boost to make it viable as a career option, corporate support is needed, and this support would also have an external social benefit, given Kabaddi's relatively humble origins. From the corporate sector's perspective, it was relatively low risk and low investment compared to sports that have an international presence, and already established stars and famous athletes drove player salaries in excess of franchises' total earnings. In the absence of ready-made, pre-existing stars, the ceiling of Kabaddi's potential was high. And thanks to broadcaster Star and league owner Mashal Sports (of which Star is now majority owner), the PKL seized the opportunity. Savvy marketing, tweaks to suit TV audiences and an organic strategy of seeking a sponsorship prize and not negotiating a sponsorship plan later helped build the brand. Today, the PKL is one of the few sports leagues in India where Indian players command fees above INR 1 crore. Kabaddi has inherent advantages that have led to its success. It is an indigenous sport that exists mainly because of the Indians. Once packaged as the PKL is, with the right combination of glitz and high-quality manufacturing, the concept was destined for success. The general presence of celebrities was exploited. But the PKL had a truly unique product, which needed little introduction, relatively low investment and a media partner, Star India, which promoted the event with supreme enthusiasm. PKL has the best local talent, a ready audience already existing in the regions and pockets of North India along with an awareness of the sport by tier 2 and 3 cities, coupled with the fact that Kabaddi is not present in most of the Multi-disciplinary international events, all of which make it easier to expand and improve the championship. In 2017, the PKL added 4 teams to bring the total number of teams to 12. This resulted in a championship over 12 weeks with 138 matches in contrast to the previous one. 5 weeks and 60 games. Indeed, the PKL, more than any other Indian league, replicates the North American structure of the NFL, MLB or even the NBA. ISL: Football as Culture The ISL has taken on the burden of creating an IPL style football league with theits huge untapped potential, given the following that PL and La Liga have among the Indian audience. Its challenge was the limited interest in domestic football, given India's relatively low ranking and relevance on the international football scene, and bridging the gap between the offering provided by the I-League, India's traditional football league 'All India Football Federation (AIFF), and where the real demand came from international stars of various eras. Unlike the IPL, the domestic talent was not broad or deep enough at the time to rival the EPL or other competitors, and the I-League itself had not been a model of success on the field. For franchises, although the ticket size to own a franchise is much smaller than that of an IPL team, there are cost and revenue limiting factors that make this a long-term viability project compared to the IPL, which was essentially a plug and play model. . The need to recruit international talent for roster stability meant that expenses were significant from the start. Star India being a key promoter for the ISL, its marketing and outreach has been considerable, bringing it into the mainstream consciousness, but on the revenue side for a franchise, there is a huge gap as the revenue model does not include the revenue from media rights. The central revenue pool was extremely significant for a start-up league not called the IPL, but entry revenue remained limited, with senior management at one club estimating the season's total entry revenue to be in the order of INR 1 crore, with salaries alone costing a franchise close to INR 16 crore for a particular year. Mounting expenses and ongoing challenges with viability haven't stopped the league from expanding, adding two more franchises for next season and renewing its title sponsorship with Hero MotoCorp for a significant raise over the original deal. This despite the drop in attendance in the previous season. There are future challenges that will need to be resolved, but which could end up helping the Indian football league in the long term. A unified Indian football league to replace the currently competing structures, with promotions and relegations between the ISL and I-League is also being debated through a “key recommendation made by consultants appointed by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in a confidential report. Championship Structures Championships must offer a unique value proposition that builds on the offering and attraction of an already popular and successful sport, or they must fill an existing gap due to a lack of national or international fixtures in that particular sport . Otherwise, they will be susceptible to saturation and an inability to leverage revenue or impressions to increase viewership. Essentially, two factors are critical when it comes to a league structure: significant participation at the grassroots and minor league levels to ensure a ready supply of talent and spectators, and secondly, an ample 3-9 month window to the year in which to conduct the championship every year. This makes the IPL's success even more astonishing, given that it was able to secure broadcast deals and rival ratings with the NFL and PL on a pro-rata basis despite the absence of the latter criterion. Championship-Based Sports Culture: Pros and Cons A championship-based sports culture in India has both its pros and cons. The three general benefits are: a) the visibility and exposure that the sport gets from having a championship broadcast on a leading network and, for the most part, has distinct corporate owners who put marketing and syndication resources behind the.