Yuga Sports and Entertainment, one of the country’s premier athletic enterprises, recently revealed the logos and jerseys of the eight teams that will compete in the first season of Pro Roll Ball league, India’s elite high-speed competition.
The logos and jerseys of the Pro Roll Ball league’s eight franchise owners were unveiled at a lively ceremony at ITC Grand Central, Parel, Mumbai. Pro Roll Ball will be the first international tournament for the enthralling sport of Roll Ball, which is going global.
It is important to note that foreign players from 17 nations will take part in the adrenaline-fueled 15-day action, which will take place from November 20 to December 3, 2023. On the day of the event, a press conference was conducted, which was attended by the event’s host, Siddharth Mehta, Founder and CEO of Yuga Sports and Entertainment.
During the occasion, eight franchise owners stepped up on a stage wearing t-shirts with their individual teams’ emblems. Later in the day, an auction procedure was held in which teams bid for their favourite athletes. All state-level, national, and international players who qualified for the Pro Roll Ball auctions, as well as coaches, mentors, and managers who qualified for the League, were present at the event.
The auction procedure divided the players into three categories: A, B, and C (International Players). Players in Category A had competed in three straight national tournaments or had represented India in any international competition in the previous five years. Players in Category B had to have competed in three consecutive national tournaments during the previous five years or participated in any India team qualification camp. Both categories’ base prices were set at INR 1.5 lakh and INR 1 lakh, respectively.
For the first season of the Pro Roll Ball, the Asian Roll Ball Federation has submitted 34 players for auction. 38 players from nations including Iran, Belarus, Oman, Egypt, Kenya, Senegal, Poland, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, England, Argentina, France, and Brazil are among the players included under the “C” category (foreign players), which also includes players from other nations. In total, 128 players across all categories were put up for auction.
Siddharth Mehta, Founder and CEO of Yuga Sports and Entertainment, said, “This is a great beginning to a league sport which has been invented by an India. It is a proud moment for us as we take this sport to an international level while creating more awareness about the game. We aim to conduct this league around Asia, with two seasons in a year. We are also aiming to make one of the top three leagues to be played in the country. We all are excited for the final countdown in November, and I am grateful to all those who made this event a success.”
Recently, Yuga Sports and Entertainment purchased the rights from the Asian Roll Ball Federation, marking an important turning point in the growth of this high-octane sport. The league’s projected present value is about INR 180 crore, and Yuga Sports and Entertainment wants to increase the property value to INR 1000+ crore during the next five years. The Pro Roll Ball league’s second season is scheduled to run from April to May 2024, and it will be live-broadcast on television and a number of OTT platforms so that fans can watch the action-packed games from the comfort of their own homes.
Roll Ball, an indigenous sport that Raju Dabhade created in Pune and is now played in over 60 countries, blends the abilities of handball with roller skating. The game is played between two teams and involves players skating while dribbling, passing, and shooting the ball into the opponent’s goalpost. The game requires both physical prowess and tactical acumen. Ten excellent players will make up each side, with three foreign players being a must.
At the event, SportsMint Media received the privilege of having an exclusive interaction with Siddharth Mehta.
* How will the league promote itself? Could we see any television campaigns released soon?
All our campaigns on television are going to start 45 days before the matches start. With respect to the ICC Men’s World Cup 2023, we have chosen November 20 to begin our league as November 19, we’re getting done with the cricket competition. So we have tried to play smart there. Of course, the kabaddi competition is also happening, so that’s how we are trying to pull out the traction from both sides.