Category: Sports

Star, Sony or Etc, BCCI will have the last laugh

MUMBAI: If you have the set-up, we have the story. If you have the money, we have got the ideas. In spite of all IPL bidders prepared to make the highest bid for the media rights, what are the chances that BCCI may favour the ones who have the infrastructure and wherewithal to give the game maximum and utmost exposure and BCCI the best mileage? A level playing field for IPL broadcast rights bidders is suspect.

The India digital rights and rest of the world rights are for five IPL seasons each, between 2018 and 2022 and the Indian sub-continent television rights being offered are for 10 IPL seasons (2018 – 2027).

It is being speculated that broadcasters may have the upper hand in the selection of the winner of IPL media rights. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said it has sold 18 tenders for the IPL rights. However, experts speculate that the tendering process may have been tilted in favour of television broadcasters.

The row is connected to the format in which bids had to be submitted. The original tenders had specified that separate bids would have to be made for the three buckets into which media rights have been divided — India digital rights, television broadcast rights for the Indian subcontinent, and a third one for international media rights.

In the new bundled versus separate format, if a single bidder were to quote higher than the sum of individual bidders globally, that bidder could walk away with all the rights. This change will significantly benefit Sony Pictures and Star India one of which may pocket all IPL rights. BCCI changed the bidding pattern and dynamics to permit consolidated bids across digital, TV, and international, the Times of India had reported.

The probable winners hence could be Sony Pictures or Star India. These two broadcasters only seem to be keen for television broadcast rights, the biggest media rights component. This modification could make it uncertain for international or digital rights bidders to compete for those rights. Crucial interest was shown by Amazon, Twitter, and Reliance Jio, and by ESPN and Sky Sports for digital rights and international rights.

Sources familiar with the tendering process said that BCCI reserved the right to pick either separate bids or consolidated bid. Bidders were earlier asked to give a separate value for each of the three packages. But, later, bidders were allowed to put in a single figure for all three rights, making it difficult for BCCI to compare consolidated bids against bids for individual rights pieces.

By permitting TV broadcasters to put in one figure for all three packages, it seems to have nullified the international or digital bidders such as GroupM, Amazon, or ESPN, from being able to bid at par with the established TV broadcasters.

This could also bring down the number of stakeholders BCCI may have to deal with. The new proposed change will also keep out deals between the BCCI and international broadcasters in key territories.

Sports broadcast giant Star India and its competitor, Sony Pictures Network, seem to be in neck-and-neck race for television broadcast rights. The latter has been arguing with BCCI that its existing contract grants it the first right of refusal. While SPN enjoyed the telecast rights to Twenty-20 tournament since inception in 2008, Star India has been making inroads into IPL system. SPN has grown the property on television with innovations around language feeds, marketing, and monetising the IPL from a distribution and advertising stand-point. The 2016 edition of the IPL reached nearly 350 million TV viewers in India, a significant boost over 2015’s 200 million viewers thanks to the addition of rural households in the reporting of television viewership.

Vinit Karnik, business head, ESP Properties, had told Business Standard, that, “It is no longer about the bouquet or distribution. The biggest change in the sports broadcast landscape is that the rights will now be awarded on the basis of production and packaging. When there are only two options, the organiser will go for the one that will present the property in the best way possible. Investments in sports production should increase now.”

ALSO READ-

Top court throws out BCCI’s review petition on Lodha recommendations

18 prospective bidders for IPL Media Rights

October 19, 2016
Star, Sony or Etc, BCCI will have the last laugh

MUMBAI: If you have the set-up, we have the story. If you have the money, we have got the ideas. In spite of all IPL bidders prepared to make the highest bid for the media rights, what are the chances that BCCI may favour the ones who have the infrastructure and wherewithal to give the game maximum and utmost exposure and BCCI the best mileage? A level playing field for IPL broadcast rights bidders is suspect.

The India digital rights and rest of the world rights are for five IPL seasons each, between 2018 and 2022 and the Indian sub-continent television rights being offered are for 10 IPL seasons (2018 – 2027).

It is being speculated that broadcasters may have the upper hand in the selection of the winner of IPL media rights. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said it has sold 18 tenders for the IPL rights. However, experts speculate that the tendering process may have been tilted in favour of television broadcasters.

The row is connected to the format in which bids had to be submitted. The original tenders had specified that separate bids would have to be made for the three buckets into which media rights have been divided — India digital rights, television broadcast rights for the Indian subcontinent, and a third one for international media rights.

In the new bundled versus separate format, if a single bidder were to quote higher than the sum of individual bidders globally, that bidder could walk away with all the rights. This change will significantly benefit Sony Pictures and Star India one of which may pocket all IPL rights. BCCI changed the bidding pattern and dynamics to permit consolidated bids across digital, TV, and international, the Times of India had reported.

The probable winners hence could be Sony Pictures or Star India. These two broadcasters only seem to be keen for television broadcast rights, the biggest media rights component. This modification could make it uncertain for international or digital rights bidders to compete for those rights. Crucial interest was shown by Amazon, Twitter, and Reliance Jio, and by ESPN and Sky Sports for digital rights and international rights.

Sources familiar with the tendering process said that BCCI reserved the right to pick either separate bids or consolidated bid. Bidders were earlier asked to give a separate value for each of the three packages. But, later, bidders were allowed to put in a single figure for all three rights, making it difficult for BCCI to compare consolidated bids against bids for individual rights pieces.

By permitting TV broadcasters to put in one figure for all three packages, it seems to have nullified the international or digital bidders such as GroupM, Amazon, or ESPN, from being able to bid at par with the established TV broadcasters.

This could also bring down the number of stakeholders BCCI may have to deal with. The new proposed change will also keep out deals between the BCCI and international broadcasters in key territories.

Sports broadcast giant Star India and its competitor, Sony Pictures Network, seem to be in neck-and-neck race for television broadcast rights. The latter has been arguing with BCCI that its existing contract grants it the first right of refusal. While SPN enjoyed the telecast rights to Twenty-20 tournament since inception in 2008, Star India has been making inroads into IPL system. SPN has grown the property on television with innovations around language feeds, marketing, and monetising the IPL from a distribution and advertising stand-point. The 2016 edition of the IPL reached nearly 350 million TV viewers in India, a significant boost over 2015’s 200 million viewers thanks to the addition of rural households in the reporting of television viewership.

Vinit Karnik, business head, ESP Properties, had told Business Standard, that, “It is no longer about the bouquet or distribution. The biggest change in the sports broadcast landscape is that the rights will now be awarded on the basis of production and packaging. When there are only two options, the organiser will go for the one that will present the property in the best way possible. Investments in sports production should increase now.”

ALSO READ-

Top court throws out BCCI’s review petition on Lodha recommendations

18 prospective bidders for IPL Media Rights

October 19, 2016
18 prospective bidders for IPL Media Rights

MUMBAI: The Indian Premier League Media Right ITT has received a massive response from the leading media and technology companies. The ITT document was available for purchase from September 19 to October 18, 2016. The Media Rights bid submission process will happen on October 25, 2016.

BCCI President, Lt. Anurag Thakur said: “With the global trends of showcasing content on multiple platforms becoming increasingly important – TV, Internet and Mobile rights are up for grabs together this time. To have as many as 18 prospective bidders in the fray reinstates the faith of market forces in Indian Premier League.”

BCCI honorary secretary Ajay Shirke said: “This is a significant step for the Board, and we are excited to have 18 prospective bidders for IPL Media Rights. Our intention is to ensure the most comprehensive coverage of the IPL across the globe.”

The complete list of entities that have purchased the ITT is as under:

Rights on offer – Different packages for Television & Digital

1. Indian Sub-continent Television Rights: 2018 – 2027 (10 IPL SEASONS)

2. Indian Sub-continent Digital Rights: 2018 – 2022 (5 IPL SEASONS)

3. Rest of the world (ROW) Media Rights: 2018 – 2022 (5 IPL SEASONS)

October 18, 2016
18 prospective bidders for IPL Media Rights

MUMBAI: The Indian Premier League Media Right ITT has received a massive response from the leading media and technology companies. The ITT document was available for purchase from September 19 to October 18, 2016. The Media Rights bid submission process will happen on October 25, 2016.

BCCI President, Lt. Anurag Thakur said: “With the global trends of showcasing content on multiple platforms becoming increasingly important – TV, Internet and Mobile rights are up for grabs together this time. To have as many as 18 prospective bidders in the fray reinstates the faith of market forces in Indian Premier League.”

BCCI honorary secretary Ajay Shirke said: “This is a significant step for the Board, and we are excited to have 18 prospective bidders for IPL Media Rights. Our intention is to ensure the most comprehensive coverage of the IPL across the globe.”

The complete list of entities that have purchased the ITT is as under:

Rights on offer – Different packages for Television & Digital

1. Indian Sub-continent Television Rights: 2018 – 2027 (10 IPL SEASONS)

2. Indian Sub-continent Digital Rights: 2018 – 2022 (5 IPL SEASONS)

3. Rest of the world (ROW) Media Rights: 2018 – 2022 (5 IPL SEASONS)

October 18, 2016
Top court throws out BCCI’s review petition on Lodha recommendations

MUMBAI: The Supreme Court today dismissed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) petition that sought a review of the court’s validation of the Lodha panel recommendations. The battle for IPL’s digital rights, meanwhile, is heating up, with heavyweights such as Star India, Sony Pictures, Facebook, Jio, Twitter, and Amazon in the contention. Facebook lately has been focusing more on live-streaming content. Twitter, which has been live streaming NFL games on its platform, is also looking for more sports tie-ups. Amazon recently launched its prime video service. Reliance Jio, meanwhile, has been providing free content to its users on its Jio TV app and is the top contender given its scale. Bidding for IPL digital rights closes on 25 October and the results of the process will be announced the same day.

In a landmark judgement in July this year, the top court had accepted a majority of the reforms recommendations made by the three-member panel appointed by the court and ordered the BCCI to respect it. The dismissal comes a day after the Supreme Court reserved its order and gave BCCI more time to implement the Lodha recommendations.

It was after interacting with 74 people involved with the sport that the Lodha Committee came up with its recommended reforms. The panel spoke to former India captains, first class and international players, coaches, managers & administrators, authors, lawyers journalists, and club owners, and Justice Mukul Mudgal.

The committee also spoke to Ajay Shirke (present BCCI secretary), Shashank Manohar (former BCCI president), Amitabh Chaudhary (present joint secretary), Anurag Thakur (present president), Anirudh Chaudhry (present treasurer), Gautam Roy (present vice-president, BCCI), Rajeev Shukla (present IPL chairman), Ratnakar Shetty (former joint secretary), Sanjay Jagdale (former secretary and selector), Shivlal Yadav (former interim president, BCCI) and the late BCCI president, Jagmohan Dalmiya. It has now become clear that a number of recommendations were actually proposed by a former state representative in the BCCI, and who is now a senior BCCI functionary.

BCCI had called the judgement ‘unconstitutional’ and the three-member Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur which accepted the reforms put forward, had a ‘prejudiced approach’ against the board. BCCI had also formed a team of lawyers, headed by the retired justice Markandeya Katju, to present the case on behalf of the board.

Katju stated that the apex court’s verdict wasn’t binding on BCCI as the former was legislative in its identity. He further said: “The matter ought to have been forwarded by the Supreme Court with the Lodha recommendations to the Parliament with its own recommendation. So that Parliament could enact a law if required.

While addressing the press, Katju claimed, “What the Supreme Court has done is unconstitutional and illegal. There has been a violation of principles of the Constitution. Under our Constitution, we have legislature, executive and judiciary. There is a broad separation of functions. It’s the legislature’s prerogative to make laws. If judiciary starts making laws, one is setting a dangerous precedent.”

The dismissal of the review petition comes a day after the Supreme Court decided to reserve their order in the case after Kapil Sibal, BCCI’s legal counsel, requested for more time to ensure the complete implementation of the recommendations. Then Thakur, the CJI, asked for a written undertaking from the board on the dates by which it will implement the Lodha reforms in toto.

The Lodha committee was established in January 2015 to decide the degree of punishment for those found guilty by the Mudgal report, which looked into the Indian Premier League spot-fixing scandal of 2013. The three-member panel was also given the responsibility of recommending structural and administrative changes to the BCCI.

Meantime, online social networking service Facebook reportedly attempted to be in the race for the media rights of BCCI’s Indian Premier League. Facebook is likely to bid for digital rights of IPL. Twitter too had shown interest over the digital rights of the league. Facebook sought digital rights to live-stream India’s biggest sporting tournament. The social networking giant had purchased the tender documents for the bidding process.

Facebook had curated a excellent experience for the preceding 2016 IPL season, with scoreboards, pages, videos and more. Nearly 360 million posts, comments and likes were posted on the social network during the tournament.

Twitter India Head of Sports Partnerships Aneesh Madani told ET that they were constantly evaluating opportunities to transform live sports experiences in partnership with their most valued global sports partners and IPL 2016 tender purchase was representative.

BCCI alleged in the Supreme Court that the Justice RM Lodha committee was trying to “run cricket” in the country by giving directions regarding match schedule, including the cash-rich IPL, which was beyond its jurisdiction. Senior advocate Sibal also questioned the purpose of recommendation to have three or five selectors for selecting the team and asked “does it serve the purpose of transparency?”

“BCCI has floated global tenders for IPL and the terms and conditions are based on standards followed globally,” he said. To this, the bench said if Lodha committee does something beyond its jurisdiction, BCCI is at liberty to approach the apex court.

October 18, 2016
Top court throws out BCCI’s review petition on Lodha recommendations

MUMBAI: The Supreme Court today dismissed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) petition that sought a review of the court’s validation of the Lodha panel recommendations. The battle for IPL’s digital rights, meanwhile, is heating up, with heavyweights such as Star India, Sony Pictures, Facebook, Jio, Twitter, and Amazon in the contention. Facebook lately has been focusing more on live-streaming content. Twitter, which has been live streaming NFL games on its platform, is also looking for more sports tie-ups. Amazon recently launched its prime video service. Reliance Jio, meanwhile, has been providing free content to its users on its Jio TV app and is the top contender given its scale. Bidding for IPL digital rights closes on 25 October and the results of the process will be announced the same day.

In a landmark judgement in July this year, the top court had accepted a majority of the reforms recommendations made by the three-member panel appointed by the court and ordered the BCCI to respect it. The dismissal comes a day after the Supreme Court reserved its order and gave BCCI more time to implement the Lodha recommendations.

It was after interacting with 74 people involved with the sport that the Lodha Committee came up with its recommended reforms. The panel spoke to former India captains, first class and international players, coaches, managers & administrators, authors, lawyers journalists, and club owners, and Justice Mukul Mudgal.

The committee also spoke to Ajay Shirke (present BCCI secretary), Shashank Manohar (former BCCI president), Amitabh Chaudhary (present joint secretary), Anurag Thakur (present president), Anirudh Chaudhry (present treasurer), Gautam Roy (present vice-president, BCCI), Rajeev Shukla (present IPL chairman), Ratnakar Shetty (former joint secretary), Sanjay Jagdale (former secretary and selector), Shivlal Yadav (former interim president, BCCI) and the late BCCI president, Jagmohan Dalmiya. It has now become clear that a number of recommendations were actually proposed by a former state representative in the BCCI, and who is now a senior BCCI functionary.

BCCI had called the judgement ‘unconstitutional’ and the three-member Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur which accepted the reforms put forward, had a ‘prejudiced approach’ against the board. BCCI had also formed a team of lawyers, headed by the retired justice Markandeya Katju, to present the case on behalf of the board.

Katju stated that the apex court’s verdict wasn’t binding on BCCI as the former was legislative in its identity. He further said: “The matter ought to have been forwarded by the Supreme Court with the Lodha recommendations to the Parliament with its own recommendation. So that Parliament could enact a law if required.

While addressing the press, Katju claimed, “What the Supreme Court has done is unconstitutional and illegal. There has been a violation of principles of the Constitution. Under our Constitution, we have legislature, executive and judiciary. There is a broad separation of functions. It’s the legislature’s prerogative to make laws. If judiciary starts making laws, one is setting a dangerous precedent.”

The dismissal of the review petition comes a day after the Supreme Court decided to reserve their order in the case after Kapil Sibal, BCCI’s legal counsel, requested for more time to ensure the complete implementation of the recommendations. Then Thakur, the CJI, asked for a written undertaking from the board on the dates by which it will implement the Lodha reforms in toto.

The Lodha committee was established in January 2015 to decide the degree of punishment for those found guilty by the Mudgal report, which looked into the Indian Premier League spot-fixing scandal of 2013. The three-member panel was also given the responsibility of recommending structural and administrative changes to the BCCI.

Meantime, online social networking service Facebook reportedly attempted to be in the race for the media rights of BCCI’s Indian Premier League. Facebook is likely to bid for digital rights of IPL. Twitter too had shown interest over the digital rights of the league. Facebook sought digital rights to live-stream India’s biggest sporting tournament. The social networking giant had purchased the tender documents for the bidding process.

Facebook had curated a excellent experience for the preceding 2016 IPL season, with scoreboards, pages, videos and more. Nearly 360 million posts, comments and likes were posted on the social network during the tournament.

Twitter India Head of Sports Partnerships Aneesh Madani told ET that they were constantly evaluating opportunities to transform live sports experiences in partnership with their most valued global sports partners and IPL 2016 tender purchase was representative.

BCCI alleged in the Supreme Court that the Justice RM Lodha committee was trying to “run cricket” in the country by giving directions regarding match schedule, including the cash-rich IPL, which was beyond its jurisdiction. Senior advocate Sibal also questioned the purpose of recommendation to have three or five selectors for selecting the team and asked “does it serve the purpose of transparency?”

“BCCI has floated global tenders for IPL and the terms and conditions are based on standards followed globally,” he said. To this, the bench said if Lodha committee does something beyond its jurisdiction, BCCI is at liberty to approach the apex court.

October 18, 2016
DD shares BRICS football telecast with Star

NEW DELHI: Doordarshan, which has the exclusive rights to cover the first BRICS Under 17 Football Cup tournament now being held in India, is sharing its signals with Star Sports to telecast the India Brazil match positional match apart from the final match.

A DD official told indiantelevision.com that the signal was being shared without any monetary arrangement. Furthermore, Star Sports was not doing any marketing, which was being handled by Doordarshan itself.

The BRICS Under 17 Football Cup, which has been given great importance with the official government website pib.nic.in giving daily results and DD Sports covering it live, is being shown on DD North East with commentary in English and Hindi and on DD Malayalam with commentary in that language.

Brazil is so far the only unbeaten team and may go on to win the BRICS U 17 Football Cup, being held in Goa at the initiative of the prime minister Narendra Modi.

DD Sports hopes through expers to analyse the takeaways for India which has had three consecutive defeats, particularly as the tournament will again be hosted by India next year.

The repeat telecast of the matches can be seen next day on DD Sports. The final match of the tournament and closing ceremony scheduled on 15 October can be watched on DD National, which claims to be the largest terrestrial platform of the world.

DD has deployed a 60-member team comprising production and engineering staff for the smooth coverage of the tournament.

Favourites Brazil is the only unbeaten team thus far with nine points from three outings. Russia is placed second with six points from three fixtures, while both South Africa and China have four points each. India has suffered identical solitary goal losses to Russia, South Africa and China.

Those who will miss out can follow the DD social media platforms for results and updates. The best of the matches will also be available on the You Tube platform of DD Sports.

Details of the DD Sports social media platforms:-

Twitter – https://twitter.com/ddsportschannel
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/Doordarshansports/
Youtube – https://www.youtube.com/user/doordarshansports
Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/dd.sports/

Also read: Goafirst BRICS U17 live telecast on DD Sports today

October 13, 2016
DD shares BRICS football telecast with Star

NEW DELHI: Doordarshan, which has the exclusive rights to cover the first BRICS Under 17 Football Cup tournament now being held in India, is sharing its signals with Star Sports to telecast the India Brazil match positional match apart from the final match.

A DD official told indiantelevision.com that the signal was being shared without any monetary arrangement. Furthermore, Star Sports was not doing any marketing, which was being handled by Doordarshan itself.

The BRICS Under 17 Football Cup, which has been given great importance with the official government website pib.nic.in giving daily results and DD Sports covering it live, is being shown on DD North East with commentary in English and Hindi and on DD Malayalam with commentary in that language.

Brazil is so far the only unbeaten team and may go on to win the BRICS U 17 Football Cup, being held in Goa at the initiative of the prime minister Narendra Modi.

DD Sports hopes through expers to analyse the takeaways for India which has had three consecutive defeats, particularly as the tournament will again be hosted by India next year.

The repeat telecast of the matches can be seen next day on DD Sports. The final match of the tournament and closing ceremony scheduled on 15 October can be watched on DD National, which claims to be the largest terrestrial platform of the world.

DD has deployed a 60-member team comprising production and engineering staff for the smooth coverage of the tournament.

Favourites Brazil is the only unbeaten team thus far with nine points from three outings. Russia is placed second with six points from three fixtures, while both South Africa and China have four points each. India has suffered identical solitary goal losses to Russia, South Africa and China.

Those who will miss out can follow the DD social media platforms for results and updates. The best of the matches will also be available on the You Tube platform of DD Sports.

Details of the DD Sports social media platforms:-

Twitter – https://twitter.com/ddsportschannel
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/Doordarshansports/
Youtube – https://www.youtube.com/user/doordarshansports
Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/dd.sports/

Also read: Goafirst BRICS U17 live telecast on DD Sports today

October 13, 2016
Sony brings month-long Pro-Wrestling League S2 on 15 December

MUMBAI: The biggest olympic league in the world and much acclaimed Pro Wrestling League (PWL), in association with Wrestling Federation of India, launched last year, is back in Season 2 with “Double Dhamaka”. World’s biggest Olympic sports league and the longest running Live TV show surpassed the television presence of many televised leagues and garnered millions of eyeballs.

The Second season of the league is set to kick-start from December 15, 2016. PWL today announced numerous additions in the second season featuring eight teams instead of six with an increase in players’ pool to 80 from the initial draft of 54. From 18 days, the multi-city league moves on to a month-long second edition of PWL.

Wrestling Federation of India president Brijbhushan Sharan Singh, emphasized,“While local ‘Dangals’ enjoyed unprecedented live spectators, data suggests that on TV, wrestling emerged as the most watched Olympic sport for Indian audience in the last 12 months.” He added, “PWL had direct impact on recent Olympic medalist Sakshi Malik, as she got an opportunity to study, share & compete alongside the best wrestlers in the world during PWL.”

ProSportify founder & promoter Kartikeya Sharma, reiterated,“We’ve created a friendly format for TV viewing sports fans whilst keeping the ethos, mat rules and rich tradition of the game intact. Additionally, our three innovations worked heavily in PWL’s favour. Essentially, converting an individual sport into a Team Game with boys & girls representing the same team. Secondly, introduction of ‘Toss’& subsequently ‘Player Blocking’ added a sense of suspense, excitement & drama in the competitive fast-paced game”.

Sony Pictures Network president- Sports & Distribution, Rajesh Kaul, said, “At Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN), we are committed to bringing the best of International sports as well as supporting domestic sports leagues. Given India’s affinity towards wrestling which is ingrained in our culture, the PWL garnered impressive viewership in its inaugural year on our network and earned the distinction of being one of the top three domestic leagues in India.”

PWL was launched with the aim to provide international platform to the deserving talent across India to compete with worlds best wrestlers in India. The most watched Olympic sport league in India also reached out to newer pockets and increased players fan following. Internationally the league has established as the most successful league, as a result we will now feature over 40 international wrestlers as compared to 24 last year. With this PWL becomes the biggest league with maximum Olympians playing in India.

October 13, 2016
Sony brings month-long Pro-Wrestling League S2 on 15 December

MUMBAI: The biggest olympic league in the world and much acclaimed Pro Wrestling League (PWL), in association with Wrestling Federation of India, launched last year, is back in Season 2 with “Double Dhamaka”. World’s biggest Olympic sports league and the longest running Live TV show surpassed the television presence of many televised leagues and garnered millions of eyeballs.

The Second season of the league is set to kick-start from December 15, 2016. PWL today announced numerous additions in the second season featuring eight teams instead of six with an increase in players’ pool to 80 from the initial draft of 54. From 18 days, the multi-city league moves on to a month-long second edition of PWL.

Wrestling Federation of India president Brijbhushan Sharan Singh, emphasized,“While local ‘Dangals’ enjoyed unprecedented live spectators, data suggests that on TV, wrestling emerged as the most watched Olympic sport for Indian audience in the last 12 months.” He added, “PWL had direct impact on recent Olympic medalist Sakshi Malik, as she got an opportunity to study, share & compete alongside the best wrestlers in the world during PWL.”

ProSportify founder & promoter Kartikeya Sharma, reiterated,“We’ve created a friendly format for TV viewing sports fans whilst keeping the ethos, mat rules and rich tradition of the game intact. Additionally, our three innovations worked heavily in PWL’s favour. Essentially, converting an individual sport into a Team Game with boys & girls representing the same team. Secondly, introduction of ‘Toss’& subsequently ‘Player Blocking’ added a sense of suspense, excitement & drama in the competitive fast-paced game”.

Sony Pictures Network president- Sports & Distribution, Rajesh Kaul, said, “At Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN), we are committed to bringing the best of International sports as well as supporting domestic sports leagues. Given India’s affinity towards wrestling which is ingrained in our culture, the PWL garnered impressive viewership in its inaugural year on our network and earned the distinction of being one of the top three domestic leagues in India.”

PWL was launched with the aim to provide international platform to the deserving talent across India to compete with worlds best wrestlers in India. The most watched Olympic sport league in India also reached out to newer pockets and increased players fan following. Internationally the league has established as the most successful league, as a result we will now feature over 40 international wrestlers as compared to 24 last year. With this PWL becomes the biggest league with maximum Olympians playing in India.

October 13, 2016