Pro Kabaddi League

Pro Kabaddi
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2014 Pro Kabaddi League

Logo of Pro Kabaddi League
Sport Kabaddi
Founded 2014
Owner(s) Mashal Sports
Director Charu Sharma
Inaugural season 2014
No. of teams 8
Country  India
Continent Asia
Most recent champion(s) Jaipur Pink Panthers
Most titles Jaipur Pink Panthers (1 title)
TV partner(s) STAR Sports
Official website prokabaddi.com

The Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) is a professional kabaddi league in India, based on the format of the Indian Premier League.[1] The first edition of the tournament started on 26 July 2014 with eight franchises consisting of players from around the world.It is currently supervised by Mashal Sports Managing Director Charu Sharma.[2]

History

Pro Kabaddi, an initiative of Mashal Sports, is a league level game of Kabaddi.

Pro Kabaddi is found by an an eight-city league played in a "caravan format," travelling together to all 8 venues to play 56 league matches, two semifinals, one 3rd and 4th position match and a Grand Finale, making a total of 60 Matches. 435 million viewers in India over its five-week run. This makes it the second-most viewed sporting tournament in the country after the annual twenty-20 tournament Indian Premier League, which in its 2014 edition was viewed by 552 million. [3]

Franchises

Locations of the 2014 Pro Kabaddi teams

Broadcasting rights

Star Sports was named as the official broadcaster in May 2014 with the online rights going to Starsports.com.[5]

2014 player signings

The first signing and auction of players for the 8 teams was held on 20 May 2014[5] in Mumbai. India's national kabaddi captain Rakesh Kumar was the priciest among the players bought for INR12.80 lakh by Patna franchise. Sports Authority of India's Deepak Nivas was bought by Vizag franchise for INR12.90 lakh.[5] Mostafa Noudehi was the highest paid overseas player bought for INR6.6 lakh by Pune franchise,[6] amongst players from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Iran, Japan, the UK, Indonesia, South Korea, Oman, Taiwan, Kenya and Turkmenistan.

References

  1. ↑ "'Patna Pirates' Join Pro Kabaddi League; Team Logo Unveiled". PatnaDaily.com. 7 June 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Monday, May 26, 2014 (2014-05-21). "Pro Kabaddi League auction sees big spends on national players". Business Standard. Retrieved 2014-05-26.
  3. ↑ "About: ProKabaddi.com — Official Website for the Pro Kabaddi League". ProKabaddi.com. 2014-03-09. Retrieved 2014-05-26.
  4. ↑ "Official Website for the Pro Kabaddi League". ProKabaddi.com. 2014-03-09. Retrieved 2014-05-26.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Pro Kabaddi league fixes players' auction on May 20 - The Times of India". Timesofindia.indiatimes.com. 2014-05-17. Retrieved 2014-05-26.
  6. ↑ Special Correspondent (2014-05-21). "Rakesh Kumar gets the highest bid". The Hindu. Retrieved 2014-05-26.

External links