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Tag: Elite Pro Basketball League

  • Elite Pro Basketball League’s CEO Sunny Bhandarkar buys a team ‘Emerging Elite’ in Street Ball League owned by Rannvijay Singha and Harman Singha

    Elite Pro Basketball League’s CEO Sunny Bhandarkar buys a team ‘Emerging Elite’ in Street Ball League owned by Rannvijay Singha and Harman Singha

    MUMBAI: Elite Pro Basketball League CEO Sunny Bhandarkar, CMO Kaustubh Ghare, COO Pranav Prabhu and operations head Bharat Singh have bought a team in the Street Ball League owned by Rannvijay Singha and Harman Singha. Street Ball League is a one of its kind 3v3 semi-pro basketball league in India where streets meet basketball. The main aim behind buying the team is to promote the sport of Basketball in India.

    ‘Emerging Elite’ is the newest entrant in the league which will kick start its journey in the third season in Mumbai from 8 October 2022. The ‘Emerging Elite’ Team will include Abhyudaya Yadav, Abhishek Rathee, Abhishek Tyagi, Sidhant Shinde, Ajinkya Mane and Arvind Arumugam. Out of the six players Abhishek Tyagi, Abhishek Rathee and Abhyudaya Yadav recently represented India as Delhi Storms at the recently concluded Red Bull Half Court World Final in Egypt. Though the team went down by two points in the pre-quarters fighting Greece it gave them a lot of exposure.

    Bhandarkar said, “We are really happy to buy a team in the upcoming Street Ball League. The main aim behind this move is to promote the game of Basketball in India. We believe we have a lot of potential and would love to see India qualify for the Olympics shortly and compete with the best athletes globally.”

    Elite Pro Basketball League CMO Kaustubh Ghare said, “We are sure initiatives like these will help to grow Basketball in India and we want to play a crucial part in uplifting the game in India. We are also proud of Delhi Storms who played well and went down fighting to Greece which is far superior at the moment when it comes to the game as compared to us.”

    Elite Pro Basketball League India’s first-of-its-kind 5×5 Pro Basketball League recently announced that they were going to organise two wildcards tryouts in Chennai and Delhi and they have received over 1200 athlete registrations. Elite Pro Basketball League which will kick start its first season early next year will feature 12 teams and has already signed over 140 athletes to play in various teams.

  • Elite Pro Basketball League signs marquee Indian national players

    Elite Pro Basketball League signs marquee Indian national players

    Mumbai: India’s Elite Pro Basketball League has announced its first round of key player signings for the 12 participating franchises. Organised by Elite Sports India (ESI), the player announcements were made on social media.

    The key signings include Indian national team players like Jagdeep Bains (Mumbai Stars), Pratham Singh (Pune Pythons) Prakash Mishra (Jaipur Giants). Other players include Basil Philip (Kochi Packers), Vinay Kaushik (Chandigarh Conquerors), actor Arvind Krishna (Hyderabad Hoops), Ram Gopal (Lucknow Swarm), Ravikumar (Chennai Turbos), Rachit Singh (Punjab Gladiators), Karan Pal Singh (Ahmedabad Aces), Arshdeep Singh (Delhi Dominators) and Visu Palani (Bengaluru Stallions).

    Also read: 5*5 Elite Pro Basketball League to launch in August; targets three-year breakeven

    Mumbai Stars’ player Jagdeep Bains said, “I am super excited to be a part of India’s first and only pro basketball league. This will give a platform to grow the sport in India which is much required.”

    Pune Pythons’ player Pratam Singh said, “Elite Pro Basketball League is the need of the hour. They are not only promoting the sport but also athlete-friendly and are giving the best remuneration for players in India. This will boost the sport in India and encourage younger players to take up the sport.”

    “When we approached these players, they were immediately sold on the idea of the league and thought this would be a great platform to promote the sport in India,” said Elite Pro Basketball CEO Sunny Bhandarkar.

    “The shelf life of professional athletes, especially in our country, remains very limited. We are keen to provide new opportunities to proven Indian team stars, and EPBL will be a financially rewarding second innings for them. EPBL is committed to elongating players’ careers through enhanced incentives and high visibility across platforms.”

    EPBL had conducted a basketball try out. “Basketball is a sport on the rise in India. EPBL aims to be a crucial addition in India’s basketball calendar to ensure the country’s best players maintain their competitive fitness and can contribute in a superior manner to their local club, state and national teams,” remarked Bhandarkar.

  • 5*5 Elite Pro Basketball League to launch in August; targets three-year breakeven

    5*5 Elite Pro Basketball League to launch in August; targets three-year breakeven

    Mumbai: A 5×5 Pro Basketball League, featuring 12 teams is set to be launched in August. The Elite Pro Basketball League is being organised by Elite Sports India (ESI) and will feature players from across the country.

    Speaking to IndianTelevision.com, Elite Pro Basketball League CEO Sunny Bhandarkar said that 5×5 Basketball is a growing sport in India, with millions of children now playing Basketball from grade school through high school. “Our founding company ESI has been broadcasting the All-India University’s National Basketball Championship tournament since 2014; and having witnessed first-hand the growing popularity (and skills) of University Basketball, we believe the market is under-served and eager for the excitement and energy of professional-level basketball,” he added.

    Bhandarkar further stated that India as a whole has picked up a lot of interest in Basketball over the past few years. Much of the credit he explains goes to foreign companies pushing their content onto the Indian platforms. “While it’s great to see the youth of India follow foreign Basketball leagues, we feel that there are so many talented Indian basketball players who deserve an opportunity to play in a professional league in their country. This would also motivate the youth to practice harder and train themselves to someday become professional players for Elite Pro Basketball League. These will only and only take the level of basketball play in India to new heights,” he asserted.

    When queried about the investors Bhandarkar said that there are about a dozen US-based investors (some of the Indian descent) who provided all of the initial funding for the league, and each of those investors has an ownership interest in a particular team.

    “We estimate that the league will reach breakeven by year three after the league is launched in August of this year.  The league does have a large portfolio of other investors willing to provide additional league funding for several years beyond that three-year mark to spur additional growth. We have structured our teams around the key markets in the country. Eg: Mumbai, Jaipur, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai and so on,”  Bhandarkar mentioned.

    In terms of revenue streams available for the promoters, he pointed to media rights, licensing and merchandise, pay-per-view, sponsorships, online stores, camps, ticket sales etc.

    Explaining the league’s structure he said that it is not a traditional franchise model. “As I mentioned earlier, the initial investors have already acquired the rights to own a particular team. The league is not a traditional franchise model, rather it mirrors the Major League Soccer model in the US whereby there are both team owners and league owners. FYI, some team owners have also acquired ownership in the League but there will be opportunities for new investors to invest in the league; and after three years there may even be opportunities to acquire a team from one of the initial team owners.”

    In terms of a broadcast partner, he said that the league is currently in talks and plans to announce its selection at a later date. On the marketing and promotional activities front, he noted that Elite Pro Basketball’s player sign-ups, drafts and selection tryouts have created a huge buzz on social media and will continue to go on as we unveil the next round of players.

    “We plan to keep many exhibition games of our selected roster in various cities. The EPB star players would make appearances in schools and colleges to give away basketballs as well as conduct one-day workshops. One of the most important things we are doing here is that we are going to conduct an entire University League with EUSAI (Elite Universal Sports Alliance India) which has already partnered with 80 top universities in India to draft the best talents from the collegiate level and give the students an opportunity to go professional in our league. This will be an essential part of our strategy for years to come,” he concluded.