Star India has retained the media rights for the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) for five seasons, with the television network acquiring the rights for INR 180 crores per year - translating the total amount for five years to 900 crores.
Mashal Sports, the organising company of the PKL, held the auction for media rights on April 15 through an ‘open tender process for the next five seasons (2021-2025). This is the first time that Mashal Sports had offered the media rights to the domestic competitors through an open process. The base price was set at INR 900 crore and it is not clear that who were the bidders alongside Star India.
The auction was held online and the media rights were split into four categories; (A) Global Television Rights, (B) India Digital Rights, (C) Gaming Rights and (D) Consolidated Rights Package.
Upon the completion of the auction, Anupam Goswami, CEO - Mashal Sports & League Commissioner of the Pro Kabaddi League said, “Kabaddi is a magnificent indigenous sport. Mashal along with its supporters and partners including AKFI, our Players, Franchises and Media Rights partner have been able to create a strong media asset for our beloved fans in the form of the Pro Kabaddi League.
“The auction process has been guided by an independent Auction Committee, comprising eminent individuals. With this important step now over, we are excited to conduct a stellar PKL Season 8 later this year. Our focus during this rights period will be to further build on the success of PKL and work closely with Star India to offer our fans more and innovative ways to engage with PKL through various mediums including television, digital and gaming.”
Star India had the media rights for Pro Kabaddi League for the first seven seasons. Like the previous editions, the eighth season of PKL will also stream on Disney+ Hotstar.
Featured photo: Instagram / prokabaddi
