Pro Kabaddi League is set to have a new firm managing the media rights for the next five years. Mashal Sports will be listening to the willing bidders for the media rights of the premier tournament of Kabaddi in the world. The bidding for the media rights will begin at Rs 900 crore.
The announcement of media rights being up for the grabs comes after all 12 teams in the tournament and Star India failed to reach an agreement with all teams in the tournament for the media rights. The tender for the media rights will be released on February 25. The auction for the rights will take virtually on April 6.
Mashal Sports currently shares 80% of media rights with all franchises involved in the tournament. The failure to reach an agreement with all teams will mean that the entire chunk of rights owned by Mashal Sports will go under the hammer. The firm with the winning bid will be having the media rights until season 12 of the tournament.
As per Economic Times, Star India had offered Rs 14-15 crore to each franchise for the next five years. However, teams are looking to get a fee in the region of Rs 22 crore per year. The bidding process might help teams to get a bigger value than what they expected from Star India.
While talking to ET, Chief executive of Mashal Sports and League commissioner of PKL, Anupam Goswami said, “We are going to conduct an e-auction for PKL. All the media rights – broadcast, digital and gaming – will be auctioned. As it is a market-driven process, we feel there will be immediate increase in the value of PKL, which is the second-largest league in the country after the Indian Premier League (IPL).”
Star Sports has 74% stakes in Mashal Sports, the founder of PKL, so it is not a surprise that they strongly negotiated for media rights. Pro Kabaddi League has enjoyed great success since the inaugural season in 2014. After the last year’s campaign was cancelled due to the pandemic, PKL is expected to return to action later this year.