Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) commissioner Anupam Goswami is confident that kabaddi will be part of the Olympics given the kind of patronage and popularity the PKL, which is successfully entering the second decade, receives.
In an exclusive chat with Sportstar, Goswami shared his thoughts on the sport, the current scenario, challenges and future plans.
Q: How was the first-leg of PKL in Hyderabad this season different from the previous editions?
Goswami: I think more than being different when you do leagues, you use the initial days to be reassured that things are working well. That is very important. I think one of the things is that for a league, for a contemporary sports league which has been around 10 seasons going into 11, we approach each season as an achievement which you can talk about. We are treading new ground for Indian sports leagues.
But, it gives us a sense of confidence that there is some achievement and experience under our belt. It is important the fundamentals are intact like the quality of competition, in terms of both the so-called strong teams doing well, but more importantly are some teams coming to the forefront. And, I think the fact that new teams have come and these are very early days yet. But, the fact that there are very significant teams who have improved their standing compared to last time around is great news for us.
How important is the early success of less-fancied teams?
It will definitely mean a lot. All these teams come from very significant sports consumption geographies, meaning a lot for the league and kabaddi fans in those geographies. As we go on to the second stage, the fans will have a lot to look forward to. And in that context, I think we are also seeing a reasonable number of goals being set like Fazal reaching 500 points as a defender. Sachin and Arjun have similarly reached their four-figure mark.
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Any specific reason to revert back to the three-city format?
One, we were very keen to complete Season 11 in the calendar year. That was very important. Of course, we adjust to the calendar of other sports leagues and big sports, particularly cricket and reduce the length of the season. Having taken that call, we wanted to make it work as efficiently as possible. Particularly, with the view to reduce travel time and fatigue for the playing squads. Whatever we do should mean a lot for as large a number of fans as possible. So, we have optimally chosen the three geographies for being the most significant shared geographies for all the 12 PKL teams.
How do you look at the young talent?
The emergence of young talent who can be the real superstars tomorrow will be an indicator of how the league is evolving successfully. I think one of the key reasons for PKL’s success is that we have been able to create a pipeline of young talent for some time now. And, we again have players like raider Nitin Kumar from Bengal Warriors, who is really brilliant, and so are other youngsters like Ajit Chauhan.
The emergence of talent is because having the right policy frameworks to induce and encourage teams to come up with their young player pipelines is working.
Is it also the superstars who are very supportive to the young new faces?
The reason why it will be (supportive) is because overall the sport has done so much to make the fact of being a kabaddi athlete so aspirational and creditable.
That’s a big change that the league, over 11 seasons, has brought about in the self-esteem and the stature of players to themselves, within their communities, within the world of sport and Indian sport at large. The median salary of a kabaddi athlete would compare very well with the salaries of other sports leagues outside of cricket. So, I think what is happening at the system level for kabaddi through PKL is very important.
The other important aspect is in states like Haryana and elsewhere also, running kabaddi academies has become a very strong business within the kabaddi community. So I think the impact of the league on the sport is showing the emergence of young talent which is great for the league. It is great for India.
What makes PKL going strong into the next decade when many high-profile leagues in some other sports have faded away?
The support of the media has been very important to us. It is obvious that crossing the 10th season is a very significant landmark. It is not easy. So when we cross it, we take reasonable pride in what we have achieved. But it also allows us to set ourselves up for the second decade. We expanded very early in our history. So these will be among the foremost Indian sports franchises which will now acquire a legacy value proposition. We should see the right policy framework, governance, and orientation to fans above all. That is very important.
And when people see that there is stability and growth of that kind, I think what it means for the league is sports investors will always be interested in kabaddi teams, the existing one, or as and when and if we decide to go beyond the present number. That will be a very significant achievement for us in terms of the league as a value proposition for its key stakeholders. It will also mean that the experience and the learnings will help us address the new challenges. Of course, there will be challenges going through the second decade. But it will help us, it will give us confidence and strength to tackle that part. I am sure PKL is one of the first leagues which is going to hit the third decade and that is a very strong statement.
What are the three key factors which you feel make PKL so popular?
I think it is very clear that PKL means a lot for the overall sport of kabaddi. We attract the best kabaddi talent, and athlete talent from around the world. We have the best officiating and conduct of matches with very strong assimilation of technology.
And above all, we have the best engagement and relevance for kabaddi fans around the world. All these three things are going to become stronger as we go through our second decade. PKL will not only be a high-quality sports league, it will also have a very positive and strong influence on the overall sport of kabaddi around the world.
Especially given the fact that if India is going to make a very serious pitch for the Olympics and I think there is already some indication of a mindset which also wants to bring an Indian sport to the Olympics. And, I think Kabaddi is going to be a very strong contender for that. One of the priority disciplines for them. It has been listed there.
One of the reasons why we will be there (in Olympics) is the Pro-Kabaddi League. And the way it’s consumed by fans. Because alongside the quality of play and competition, we are also building the quality of consumption and fans. That will be very important.
If you were to name three innovations in the sport which led to PKL being such a success story, what are they?
I feel there is a clarity of purpose. That is what all innovations are for. One is a fan-first approach, explicitly and without any blinkers. We have tried to give very high and top priority to fan engagement and being relevant to sports fans. Where the league has succeeded is because of the very unique and strong partnership with our media partners at Star India. That’s been the greatest. They have brought the fan focus to life for the league. They have innovated strongly in establishing, creating, and continuously innovating the narrative for the sport, whether it is visual narrative as well as verbal narrative.
So, I think the strongest innovation for PKL is content around some competitive play that has come fan-facing. The league’s initiatives have been largely around the spectator, viewer and fan experience of the sport in creating and working with the setting of a dedicated kabaddi stadium. I think other sports have struggled to achieve the same experience.
As part of relevance and engagement, our focus on innovation has been establishing high points which help the fan understand, and identify how the game is played. And so, if you look at innovations like the do-or-die raid or the super tackle, you cannot be adventurous with these innovations because they are about playing the sport itself. But you have to do these things in a very deliberate way.
Kabaddi is the only contact sport in the world where the defender is rewarded for outstanding defence. And, the raider is awarded for outstanding aggression. So those are the innovations.
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There are two fundamental promises you have to make to the fan. One is that the competition is the best in class in the world for your sport. You can say it’s an Indian sport, so I can do so for Indian audiences. But I have to work at it to convince them that it’s a very high-quality competition.
What goes into convincing the fan about the quality of competition is the quality of officiating. So my innovation has also been around the way my match officiating takes place, the number of officials deployed and the strong connect with the video reference. And, the way we are able to offer real-time guidance from video footage etc. are very strong innovations.
Is there something like a global imprint of the sport in the work of the PKL success?
If we have to go to the Olympics, we will boldly work for the sport of kabaddi in tandem with the International Kabaddi Federation and the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI). We will have to walk the path already set by other sports. We will have to have a women’s Kabaddi league sooner than later.
And, more importantly, have it with the same dramatic impact for the sport as PKL has done for men’s kabaddi. Those are two important things. And yes, as far as the strong role which has been played by our media partners, we know that they would be very supportive of an enhanced international kabaddi program also.
So, I think we definitely look forward to more kabaddi being played around the world. In fact, PKL will be conducting a demonstration event for kabaddi in Melbourne with the Government of Victoria which will be conducted during the PKL playoffs.
I think there will be PKL playoffs qualifiers, the Melbourne match and the PKL season 11 finals on consecutive days. It will be quite a feat of coordination and planning and organisation.
Working in coordination with AKFI is a huge plus in terms of players’ interests being protected by playing in the PKL?
We are very clear that the custodian of the sport in India will be the Kabaddi Federation. We are very close and we are very clear that the International Kabaddi Federation is the custodian of the sport internationally.
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