 "Mumbai Rockets' badminton players R M V Gurusaidutt, H S Prannoy and Mathias Boe take a selfie during a press conference ahead of the Premier Badminton League in Mumbai (pic: Kamlesh Pednekar)")
After a gap of two years, the Indian Badminton League will hit the TV screens on January 2 in its new avatar — The Premier Badminton League (PBL).
The league will be broadcast on the Star Sports network in English and Hindi. Both standard definition and high definition feeds will be available through Star Sports 2 and Star Sports HD2 (English) and Star Sports 3 and Star Sports HD3 (Hindi). As with all other sporting events, the PBL will also be available on the network’s digital platform — hotstar.
Apart from broadcasting the league, Star Sports is also the title sponsor for the PBL. In 2014, it took a similar call during the inaugural season of Mashaal Sports’ Pro-Kabaddi League (PKL) and continued as the title sponsor in its second season. After the success of the first season, Star India bought 75 per cent stake in the promoter company of the league — Mashaal Sports.
Sanjay Gupta, chief operating officer of Star India, says, “The success of India’s badminton stars internationally has led to the emergence of a passionate fan base back home. As a result, like kabaddi, badminton is now a sport that’s very close to the hearts of Indian fans. The prospect of our home heroes facing up against the best the world has to offer in our own backyard was a prospect that was too tempting to pass up. Strategically, it also made the most business sense for Star Sports given our efforts to create a vibrant sporting ecosystem in the country.”
The details about other sponsors and advertisers are sketchy as of now, though in its 2013 season, the PBL (then called IBL) managed to rope in close to 10 advertisers on-ground including telecom giant Vodafone. Media planners reveal that with non-cricket sports gaining prominence, this year too, advertisers will invest on the league. Given that like tennis, badminton is slightly more skewed towards the SEC A (social economic classification), the money flowing into the league could be substantial. In 2013, the entire ecosystem of the tournament clocked close to Rs 75 crore in sponsorship revenues (including broadcast sponsorships, on-ground sponsorships and team sponsorships).
This year, the six teams spent $1.57 million on player acquisition. The costliest players this year were Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei (Hyderabad Hunters) at $100,000, India’s Saina Nehwal also at $100,000 (Awadhe Warriors) and P V Sindhu at $95,000 (Chennai Smashers).
The league kicks off on January 2 and the final will take place on January 17.
The six team tournament, which debuted in 2013, ran into a legal tangle with Sporty Solutions Private Limited (SSPL), the commercial partner to the Badminton Association of India (BAI), the governing body for badminton in the country and the organiser of the event.
The legal tangle rose from SSPL’s claims to protect intellectual property rights (IPR) and the sports management agency sought an injunction in the matter. The stay on the league was, however, lifted, and the organisers decided to rebrand the IBL as the PBL.
| Teams | Spends in USD |
| Awadhe warriors | 2,69,000 |
| Bengaluru Topguns | 2,47,000 |
| Chennai Smashers | 2,60,000 |
| Delhi Acers | 2,69,000 |
| Hyderabad Hunters | 2,61,000 |
| Mumbai Rockets | 2,66,000 |
| Total | 15,72,000 |
| Source: PBL official website | |
