By Our Staff
Roff, a tile adhesive brand from Pidilite Industries, has partnered with the Pro Kabaddi League 2023.
Said Manish Dubey, Chief Marketing Officer, Pidilite: “We’re excited about Roff’s partnership with the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) 2023 as we find a strong brand connection with PKL. The core brand promise of strong grip (that Roff has on tiles to walls) very well resonates in the game of Kabaddi. This connection made PKL very attractive for us.”
By Our Staff
Adani Sportsline has appointed Sanjay Adesara as new Chief Business Officer (CBO). His strategic approach for Adani Sportline will include the development of an effective approach for brand strategy, brand activation, and cross-functional team management.
Currently, Adani Sportsline is making its presence felt with teams in the Pro Kabaddi League and the Women’s Premier League, among others. Additionally, the team is a supporter of Olympic talent with the IOA and is also working towards growing its engagement levels in sporting activities.
Notes a communique: “The Adani Sportsline team is also keeping in line with their core objective of building a sporting nation and already have in place academies for various sports such as cricket and football, and continue work on the lines of providing aspiring athletes the necessary infrastructure.”
By Our Staff
Bikano, Bikanervala has decided to sponsor Team Dabang Delhi for Pro Kabaddi League Season 9. With this partnership, the Bikano logo will feature prominently on the right sleeves of Team Dabang Delhi’s competition t-shirts through the duration of this season. Also the logo will feature across all in-stadium branding collateral and across ATL-BTL and digital branding as well.
Said Manish Aggarwal, Director, Bikano: “This has been a blessed year for brand Bikano as markets are open and people are back to spend on snacking after two years of Lockdown. In order to consolidate these good times, as a leading FMCG company, we are looking to spread awareness about our brand and products via diverse, aggressive marketing campaigns. And what could be better than being associated with Pro Kabaddi League and, specifically, the defending champions of the previous season – Team Dabang Delhi. Kabaddi is a beloved sport of India, and the league has managed to win the hearts of millions of people across the world so we decided to sponsor the original sport of India.”
By Our Staff
Dangal online skill-based gaming platform has announced the launch of ‘Fantasy Kabaddi’ for gaming aficionados ahead of the Pro Kabaddi League. This unified multi gaming platform has managed to carve a niche amongst the Indian gaming community and is accessible across the Android platform.
Said Varun Mahna, Founder & CEO of Dangal Games: “With the launch of Fantasy Kabaddi, we are constantly researching and innovating our platform for making tech enabled gaming experience seamless. By drawing relevance and encouraging a competitive edge amongst the like-minded communities, our endeavour has been to provide a platform that not only entertains but is advanced enough for the physical sport lovers to engage with. Dangal Games has been reporting exponential growth year on year and have gained widened interest through meaningful connections with the users.”
Added Ankit Anand, Business Head at Dangal Games: “We are aiming to reach 10 lakh+ user-base on Dangal Games through Fantasy Sports within six months period and 50Lac+ overall user base in the next 12 months. Fantasy sports as an industry, I think, will continue to grow. Currently there are more than 100 active apps promoting fantasy gaming on their platforms and reassures of the gaining popularity of the segment amongst the tech savvy generation.”
By Our Staff
We reported on Wednesday on the partnership of UP Yoddha, the Pro Kabaddi League franchise with ABP News, as Lead Principal Sponsor. We later learnt that it was stitched up by the New Delhi-based Creatigies Communications.
Said Col Vinod Bisht, Head Yoddha, UP Yoddha and CEO GMR League Games: “As a lead team of PKL, and coming from the house of GMR, we are very sensitive to the partners we choose for our various assets across Sports. We have had the pleasure of working closely for many years with Creatigies and are delighted that they have brought to us ABP News as our Lead Team Sponsor. A media network of ABP ‘s stature adds great value to the Team.”
Speaking on the partnership, Navroze D Dhondy, Founder and Managing Director – Creatigies Communications Pvt Ltd, said: “It is a matter of great pride and honour for us to be able to bring these 2 leading brands together. Over the last 20 years, we at Creatigies we have always striven to build long term mutually beneficial partnerships and we are confident this one too has great potential. Building on shared values of both brands, and the ability to add value to each other is the crux.”
By Our Staff
As the Pro Kabaddi League is all set to make its return (and the UP elections draw closer), ABP News has signed a deal to become the principal sponsor of the UP Yoddha team for the 2021-22 season. As a part of this deal, the ABP News’ logo will feature prominently on the UP Yoddha players’ jerseys, allowing the news channel to build brand recognition amongst younger audiences and sports aficionados across the country.
Speaking on the announcement, Avinash Pandey, CEO, ABP Network said: “We are extremely excited to be supporting UP Yoddha, one of the most promising teams in Pro Kabaddi League this season. Kabaddi, as a sport, has grown significantly over the years. The Pro Kabaddi league has popularized the Indian-origin sport even more and has created a strong connection with sports lovers and younger audiences. Alongside UP Yoddha, we hope to make this season of Pro Kabaddi an incredibly engaging, memorable, and entertaining spectacle.”
Speaking about the partnership, Col. Vinod Bisht, CEO, GMR League Games added: “At UP Yoddha, we are excited to have ABP News as our Principal Sponsor. ABP Network is one of the most reputed and far-reaching media houses in the country. We believe that with the help of this partnership we will drive great support for the franchise UP Yoddha, which holds the flag high being the first team out of UP in any league sport in the country. ABP News is the leader in Hindi news Genre and the partnership gives us the opportunity to undertake joint initiatives and promote the sport in the state at the ground level. We hope this is going to be the start of a long and mutually rewarding partnership between two big organisations.”
By Our Staff
Mashal Sports has concluded its Media Rights Auction for the five seasons of Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) to be held during 2021-2025. Star India has emerged as the successful bidder following an online auction and has retained the consolidated rights package on offer. The company will be responsible for producing a world-class feed and a strong marketing commitment to the league.
Star India Private Limited was the Media Rights Partner for PKL for the first seven seasons of the League. This was the first time Mashal Sports offered the Media Rights to eligible domestic and global players through an open tender process.
Said Anupam Goswami, CEO – Mashal Sports & League Commissioner of the Pro Kabaddi League: “Kabaddi is a magnificent indigenous sport. Mashal along with its supporters and partners including AKFI, our Players, Franchises and Media Rights partner have been able to create a strong media asset for our beloved fans in the form of the Pro Kabaddi League. The auction process has been guided by an independent Auction Committee, comprising eminent individuals. With this important step now over, we are excited to conduct a stellar PKL Season 8 later this year. Our focus during this rights period will be to further build on the success of PKL and work closely with Star India to offer our fans more and innovative ways to engage with PKL through various mediums including television, digital and gaming.”
Added K Madhavan, President, The Walt Disney Company India and Star India: “Pro Kabaddi League stands out as one of the most popular sporting properties in India and we, at Star India are thrilled to retain the television and digital media rights for the next five seasons. Over the years, we have made significant investments to enhance the aspirational value of PKL, making it the second most-watched sporting league in the country. By delivering an event broadcast of international standards, we have elevated the status of this indigenous sport, reinforcing our commitment towards building a multi-sporting nation. We will continue to work closely with Mashal Sports to take Kabaddi to greater heights.”
By A Correspondent
Force Motors, Pune-based automotive giant, announced its Principal Sponsorship for Puneri Paltan for Season 7 of the Pro Kabaddi league.
Said Prasan Firodia, Managing Director Force Motors: “Kabaddi is an indigenous and popular sport followed by most of our customers in rural India. The association strengthens the common ground of this earthy sport and our product range- Indigenous, Rugged and Agile. Our Kargo King, Shaktiman pick-up and Sanman & Balwan agricultural Tractors resonate these qualities. We are pleased to be the principal partner of our local Pune team- Puneri Paltan. We are hopeful for a spectacular performance and wish all the players very best for this season! ”
By A Correspondent
The Commercial Vehicles Business Unit (CVBU) of Tata Motors announced a three-year long partnership with the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) as Associate Sponsor, starting this season. Concurrently, Tata Motors will extend their commercial support to Pro Kabaddi franchisee U.P. Yoddha as the principal sponsor for the second consecutive year.
Commenting on this development, Girish Wagh, President – Commercial Vehicle Business Unit, Tata Motors said: “Games like Kabaddi have always been at the forefront to connect with the masses in India exemplifying the energy, the passion and dynamism which the Tata Motors Commercial Vehicle Brand has always been associated with. Kabaddi as a sport is a passion in our hinterland and PKL is elevating the game through high visibility and appeal to the country at large. Commercial Vehicles are the backbone of our economy and in some manner touch everyone’s life on an everyday basis and Kabaddi as a sport is also one for the masses and touches all sections of Society. We are truly delighted to partner with the Pro Kabaddi League franchise and continue our association with the U.P. Yoddha team. We are confident that these associations will reap great benefits in building deeper connections with more natural roots in the heartland of India – something few other sports or marketing events can ever match.â€
By A Correspondent
After its regional foray with the launch of Star Sports 1 Tamil, Star Sports is getting to set to launch a free-to-air sports channel, Star Sports First. The channel will go on air on July 21on DD’s FTA DTH platform Freedish. This will allow sports fans and enthusiasts to watch their favourite sports, in Hindi, without paying any subscription fee.
The channel will also air Seasons 5 of the Pro Kabaddi League which begins on July 28. In addition, the channel’s programme calendar will also include BCCI domestic cricket tournaments, domestic football tournament etc.
Said a Star India spokesperson: “Television penetration in India has grown exponentially. We recognise that there is a very sizeable subset of this universe that is not on conventional pay TV. In the ‘Free-to-air’ content that they have access to, sports content is mostly absent and only sporadically available. It is our belief that there is, however, an eager appetite for it and that is the reason to launch SS First. We believe tens of millions of fans will be created for many different sports offerings through our content bouquet.â€
By A Correspondent
Sporting league Pro-Kabaddi has signed on Vivo as the title sponsor for five years. The upcoming season will see Pro Kabaddi with up to 12 teams and more than 130 matches spread across 13 weeks. Vivo Pro Kabaddi Season 5 will kick off in July 2017 on Star Sports.
Speaking about VIVO Pro Kabaddi, Sanjay Gupta, Managing Director, Star India said: “We are delighted to have Vivo as our title sponsor, as they happen to share a common vision with Star Sports to make Pro Kabaddi one of the finest leagues in the world. VIVO coming on board as the title sponsor is a significant milestone in the growth story of the league. Star Sports will continue its efforts to elevate the stature of the sport further.â€
Speaking on the occasion, Kent Cheng, CEO, Vivo India said: “We are thrilled to partner with Pro Kabaddi league as the title sponsor. This association is important for us as Pro Kabaddi league has reached incredible heights and now proudly stands as one of the most successful leagues in India.
With four successful seasons completed in aspan of two years and the sport’s ever increasing popularity, Pro Kabaddi is now set to expand to up tofour new geographies. With the addition of these new teams, Pro Kabaddi is gearing up to surpass other Indian sports leagues in terms of geographic representation (teams from 11 states), number of matches(130+ matches), and duration of the league (13 weeks) in Season 5.
The intended new states for Pro Kabaddiare Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, chosen for their high affinity towards Kabaddi.
Said Uday Shankar, Chairman and CEO, Star India: “Even for an optimist like me, the response we have seen for Kabaddi is surprising. Having seen its affinity in the country, it would be a disservice to the sport if we do not grow it further. All stakeholders have decided to come together to expand the league and given the pace at which this is growing, it might be just the first in a series of expansions in the coming yearsâ€,.
Added Janardan Singh Gehlot, President, International Kabaddi Federation:  “Pro Kabaddi is a truly unique example of how a modern league has transformed the much loved but traditional Kabaddi into a modern sport. Star Sports as well as Mashal have created a magnificent example for the growth of India as multi-sport nation.â€