 "Premier Futsal available on Facebook Live")
Premier Futsal, the multinational tournament for the variation of football, will be the first Indian sports league to stream all matches on Facebook Live, the video social media platform. The inaugural edition of the league kicks off on Friday in Chennai. It will also be telecast on Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) channels and its digital video streaming platform, Sony LIV. Futsal is football played five to a side, with other modifications, on a smaller area than the normal sport and mainly indoors. Premier Futsal was conceptualised by Indian entrrpreneurs, as a semi-professional sports league, the first tournament on July 15–26, and is backed by Xavier Britto of the Indev Group.
The decision to make the matches available on Facebook Live was taken to primarily increase the popularity of futsal in the country. League co-founder Abhinandan Balasubramanian said: “ Geography and access to television will no longer be limitations for fans from across the world to see the action-packed sport. Facebook Live will ensure those on the go do not miss out on any Premier Futsal action.”
Premier Futsal recently announced Manchester United ambassador Ryan Giggs, Ronaldinho and Argentine player Hernan Crespo as marquee players who'll join the other legends like Paul Scholes, Falcão and Michael Salgado. The league has Portuguese veteran Luis Figo as its president and Indian Test cricket team captain Virat Kohli as ambassador.
The tournament will have six teams, one from each participating city. Each team has 12 players – one marquee player, five international Futsal players and five Indian Futsal players. The playing five will comprise one marquee player, three international players and one Indian player. The Indian players were picked after a 'talent scout exercise' by the league, with Futsal Association of India. The matches will be for 40 minutes each, and each game will be split in four quarters of 10 minutes each.
The league promoters have earmarked Rs 45 crore in marketing alone this year. SPN is expected to spend some more on promoting the league. The teams are expected to spend Rs 8-10 crore in the inaugural year, which includes franchise and player acquisition fees.
The decision to make the matches available on Facebook Live was taken to primarily increase the popularity of futsal in the country. League co-founder Abhinandan Balasubramanian said: “ Geography and access to television will no longer be limitations for fans from across the world to see the action-packed sport. Facebook Live will ensure those on the go do not miss out on any Premier Futsal action.”
Premier Futsal recently announced Manchester United ambassador Ryan Giggs, Ronaldinho and Argentine player Hernan Crespo as marquee players who'll join the other legends like Paul Scholes, Falcão and Michael Salgado. The league has Portuguese veteran Luis Figo as its president and Indian Test cricket team captain Virat Kohli as ambassador.
The tournament will have six teams, one from each participating city. Each team has 12 players – one marquee player, five international Futsal players and five Indian Futsal players. The playing five will comprise one marquee player, three international players and one Indian player. The Indian players were picked after a 'talent scout exercise' by the league, with Futsal Association of India. The matches will be for 40 minutes each, and each game will be split in four quarters of 10 minutes each.
The league promoters have earmarked Rs 45 crore in marketing alone this year. SPN is expected to spend some more on promoting the league. The teams are expected to spend Rs 8-10 crore in the inaugural year, which includes franchise and player acquisition fees.
| Team | Owner |
| Chennai 5s | The Hindu Group |
| Mumbai 5s | DC Design |
| Goa 5s | Viiking Media & Entertainment (promoted by Sachiin Joshi) |
| Kolkata 5s | Jeet (Bengali actor; ownership through company Grassroots Entertainment) |
| Bengaluru 5s | Puneeth Rajkumar (Kannada actor) |
| Kochi 5s | E S Entertainment |
