With the Pro Kabaddi League (KPL) attracting as many as 435 million viewers nationwide, Ronnie Screwvala-owned team U Mumba says it is looking at sales from both ticketing and sponsorship in the ongoing fourth season.

The company, which had reportedly notched about ₹12 crore from sponsors in the last season, expects to raise a similar amount his season, too.

“We expect growth of 30-35 per cent in the ongoing season. We have a two-season contract with several of our sponsors,” said Supratik Sen, CEO, USports, the sports division of team owner Unilazer Ventures.

Growing popularity

U Mumba’s sponsors for the current season include Tata Xenon, Macho, Lawman, Havmor Ice cream, Adidas, Red FM 93.5, Courtyard by Marriot and NSCI SVP. Sen added that big brands are looking at kabaddi in a big way, with the league’s reach and popularity growing.

KPL 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.

The organisers had decided to have two seasons of PKL a year — one each in January and July. Star Sports is the broadcaster for the fourth season as well. The tournament is telecast on Star India’s network of channels in five languages.

Merchandise boost

Sen said that besides sponsorship, the company is seeing good traction from ticketing and even merchandise.

“Tickets for our home venues are priced from ₹1,000 to ₹1,500. We expect this to shoot up in the current season. Besides ticketing, merchandise, despite being small, is growing both online and offline,” he added.

According to GroupM-SportzPower’s recent report, while cricket continues to be the biggest grosser, other sports are emerging as growth drivers.

“Sports other than cricket have successfully established themselves in terms of revenue and fandom within the Indian sporting firmament,” said Thomas Abraham, co-founder of SportzPower.

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