MUMBAI: India’s official body for the sport, the Badminton Association of India (BAI), sports management firm SportzLive, and broadcaster Star Sports are gearing up for the third season of Premier Badminton League (PBL) scheduled to kick off on December 23.
The league has retained Vodafone as title sponsor while Servo of Indian Oil will be the co-sponsor. Bajaj Electricals and Bisleri have also been signed as sponsors.
“We have received great response from advertisers and are expecting to sign four more sponsors before the start,” Atul Pande, managing director, SportzLive, told ET.
The league has been growing year on year and “While the numbers are not comparable to Kabaddi or football, it is getting there. We have seen 50-60% jump in viewership year-on-year on TV, while footfalls for live matches have also increased,” Pande added.
In the last season, 33.8 million unique viewers watched the league, while the total viewership was at 77.74 million.
Industry sources said PBL sold 23,500 tickets worth Rs 1.2 crore in the last season and the amount was equally distributed among the 6 teams. Total footfalls were close to 31,000.
“We have added two new teams for season three, which will mean increase in total number of matches and higher footfalls. We are hoping to sell 40,000 tickets this season,” Pande said.
“I am bullish on badminton. At one end, we have players winning top tournaments globally, on the other end we have possibly the strongest bench strength after cricket,” said Vinit Karnik, business head at GroupM’s entertainment and sports division ESP Properties.
“It will need a bigger marketing push from the organisers/ broadcaster. Also, at present it has a very short duration and by the time the excitement starts building up, the league gets over,” Karnik added.
For the third season, PBL has added two new teams – Ahmedabad Smash Masters (owned by Padmanabh Industries), and North Eastern Warriors (owned by TK Engineering Consortium).
Existing teams are Awadhe Warriors, owned by the Sahara India Group; Bengaluru Blasters, owned by N Prasad, Sachin Tendulkar and others (Matrix Badminton Team Works); Chennai Smashers, owned by VPVS Sports; Delhi Dashers (owners to be announced later this week); Hyderabad Hunters (Agile Group); and Mumbai Rockets owned by Zoylo Digihealth.
Business of Badminton
Cost of running a franchise – Rs 6.5 crore per year
Revenue from central sponsorships, team sponsorships, broadcast rights – Rs 3.5-4.5 crore
Revenue from ticket sales – Rs 20 lakh (last season)
Loss per year – Rs 2-2.5 crore (without prize money)
Team owners expect to breakeven in 5-6 years.
The league has retained Vodafone as title sponsor while Servo of Indian Oil will be the co-sponsor. Bajaj Electricals and Bisleri have also been signed as sponsors.
“We have received great response from advertisers and are expecting to sign four more sponsors before the start,” Atul Pande, managing director, SportzLive, told ET.
The league has been growing year on year and “While the numbers are not comparable to Kabaddi or football, it is getting there. We have seen 50-60% jump in viewership year-on-year on TV, while footfalls for live matches have also increased,” Pande added.
In the last season, 33.8 million unique viewers watched the league, while the total viewership was at 77.74 million.
Industry sources said PBL sold 23,500 tickets worth Rs 1.2 crore in the last season and the amount was equally distributed among the 6 teams. Total footfalls were close to 31,000.
“We have added two new teams for season three, which will mean increase in total number of matches and higher footfalls. We are hoping to sell 40,000 tickets this season,” Pande said.
“I am bullish on badminton. At one end, we have players winning top tournaments globally, on the other end we have possibly the strongest bench strength after cricket,” said Vinit Karnik, business head at GroupM’s entertainment and sports division ESP Properties.
“It will need a bigger marketing push from the organisers/ broadcaster. Also, at present it has a very short duration and by the time the excitement starts building up, the league gets over,” Karnik added.
For the third season, PBL has added two new teams – Ahmedabad Smash Masters (owned by Padmanabh Industries), and North Eastern Warriors (owned by TK Engineering Consortium).
Existing teams are Awadhe Warriors, owned by the Sahara India Group; Bengaluru Blasters, owned by N Prasad, Sachin Tendulkar and others (Matrix Badminton Team Works); Chennai Smashers, owned by VPVS Sports; Delhi Dashers (owners to be announced later this week); Hyderabad Hunters (Agile Group); and Mumbai Rockets owned by Zoylo Digihealth.
Business of Badminton
Cost of running a franchise – Rs 6.5 crore per year
Revenue from central sponsorships, team sponsorships, broadcast rights – Rs 3.5-4.5 crore
Revenue from ticket sales – Rs 20 lakh (last season)
Loss per year – Rs 2-2.5 crore (without prize money)
Team owners expect to breakeven in 5-6 years.
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