BackPro Kabbadi franchises struggling to find sponsors
Only three of the eight teams in the league have managed to seal any sponsorship deals
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New Delhi: Neither the fact that 435 million TV viewers watched its inaugural season nor the star power of Bollywood actors Amitabh Bachchan and Salman Khan, who are promoting the 2015 edition, have been able to attract a swarm of sponsors to franchises of the Pro Kabaddi League that gets under way on Saturday.
Only three of the eight teams—Bengal Warriors, Bengaluru Bulls, Dabang Delhi, Jaipur Pink Panthers, Patna Pirates, Puneri Paltan, Telugu Titans and U Mumba—in the league have managed to seal any sponsorship deals.
The remaining five haven’t—or at least haven’t disclosed which sponsors are backing them—in season two.
The three teams include U Mumba, which has signed up with pain relief brand Nise Gel, men’s underwear brand Amul Macho and luggage maker American Tourister. It’s also in talks with other potential sponsors, said Supratik Sen, CEO of U Sports, the sports division of team owner Unilazer Ventures.
Pune franchise Puneri Paltan, owned by Insurekot Sports Pvt. Ltd, has signed up with private FM radio station Radio City 91.1 FM and real estate developer Kolte-Patil Developers Ltd as its sponsors. U Mumba claimed it was looking to raise ₹ 12 crore through sponsorships. Puneri Paltan is targeting a modest ₹ 2.5-3 crore.
Bengaluru Bulls, owned by Kosmik Global Media, has signed up with Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd, agri brand Golden Harvest, low-cost airline Air Asia India and family networking application Life360. It didn’t reveal the deal size or how much it’s seeking to raise.
“I’m pleased to say that we have achieved our baseline for sponsor revenues this year and hope to grow it going forward," said Uday Sinh Wala, CEO, Kosmik Global Media.
Executives at Patna Pirates, Jaipur Pink Panthers and Telugu Titans did not respond to queries from Mint.
Dabang Delhi and Bengal Warriors said they were finalizing their sponsors and couldn’t disclose the names before the contracts were signed.
Media buyers say that in any case, the teams will not be able to top the ₹ 6-7 crore each received from sponsorship deals in the inaugural edition of the Pro Kabaddi League, which attracted the kind of TV viewership only cricket enjoys.
The amount pales in comparison with the estimated ₹ 2,500-3,000 crore companies spend on sponsorship deals with franchises of the Indian Premier League, the popular Twenty20 cricket tournament on which the Pro Kabaddi League is modelled.
Sen of U Sports says that big brands cannot afford to ignore kabaddi any more because of its television viewership numbers last season and because it is now a mainstream sport. Not all agree.
“As far as monetization goes, sports in India means cricket," said Ashish Bhasin, chairman, India, and CEO, South-East Asia, at Aegis Media, a media buying firm. “In concept, PKL sounds good but in reality it will have to struggle, may be even till the eleventh hour, to find sponsors."
The Pro Kabbadi League was launched in 2014 by cricket commentator Charu Sharma and industrialist Anand Mahindra’s sports management company Mashal Sports, with the Star India network as its broadcasting partner.
Star Sports, which was the title sponsor of the league last year, is sponsoring the second season of the league as well. A Star India spokesperson said the broadcaster had retained the sponsorship out of choice.
“We retained the title sponsorship because unlike the Indian Super League (ISL), in which IMG-Reliance also has a stake, Pro Kabaddi League is our sole property," said the spokesperson, referring to the football league sponsored by Reliance Industries Ltd and IMG.
The tournament will be telecast on Star India’s network of channels in five languages.
An executive at Mumbai-based sports marketing company Baseline said one reason why franchises are struggling to find sponsors is that they are demanding too much.
“That doesn’t gel well with the sponsors," said Baseline managing director Tuhin Mishra.
For instance, a team that struck sponsorship deals at around ₹ 15-20 lakh on average in the last season has increased it to ₹ 1-1.5 crore this year, Mishra said. “Sponsors do not see the return on investment to be feasible at these rates," Mishra said.
What may also be keeping sponsors away from Pro Kabbadi is ISL , that begins in October.
“With ISL just round the corner, sponsors are weighing their options and see it as a safer league to invest in. Moreover, Pro Kabbadi franchises need to understand that the price points for PKL and ISL cannot be the same. They need to bring their rates down," Mishra added.
Charu Sharma, managing director of Mashal Sports, which is organizing the tournament along with Star Sports, said franchises will not “settle for desperate deals at the last minute".
“We took a call not to sell properties inexpensively," Sharma said. “Moreover, sponsorship deals are usually signed for a minimum period of three years, so if you sell for cheap you are stuck with a limited budget for that time period."
“We are looking at it as a long-term investment; therefore, holding on now will benefit us later," he said.
That means Pro Kabbadi is leaning heavily on Star India for support.
“We have an arrangement with Star under which teams get decently remunerated. This is why no franchise is signing desperate sponsorship deals right now. We are being prudent even if it takes another season to strike the right kind of deals," explained Sharma.
In the end, like last year, some of the team owners might have to fall back on their in-house brands to provide sponsorships. This was the case with Bengal Warriors, promoted by the Future Group, in the first season.
According to Sandip Tarkas, CEO of Bengal Warriors and president, customer strategy at Future Group, the franchise will be looking at the group’s brands this year as well for sponsorships.
The tournament begins Saturday with a match between U Mumba and reigning champions Jaipur Pink Panthers.
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