Pro Kabaddi League looking to up ante during landmark 10th season

Apart from PKL being on the cusp of starting its milestone tenth season, the competition has returned to the caravan format for the first time in four years, which has resulted in a fair amount of excitement for everyone involved.

Speaking ahead of the start of the season, The Head Sports Leagues, Mashal Sports and League Commissioner, Pro Kabaddi League Anupam Goswami said that the return to the original format of the tournament is very significant, and further added that the next few months would be on the challenging side.

"It was the strength of the league and we are going back to it and this exercise is not easy. It's a bit complicated because we are not just looking at 12 destinations, but out of the 12 destinations, 9 destinations are where the people have not seen Kabaddi in a long time. We aim to reignite the passion among the fans to support their local team and get them to the stadium after a break. We are going to take it as a challenge and I am sure that we will be able to overcome this," he said.

For the PKL, one of the most important aspects this year will be about bringing fans to the stadiums in all the 12 cities. And while the PKL will arrive with a great amount of enthusiasm and energy at all the different venues across the country, the fact of the matter is that kabaddi has now gone over and beyond the usual target areas, and is spreading its wings across the country. And one of the important driving forces for that, is the way franchises have invested in the grassroots.

"We had a program running called - 'New young player'. The need for the program was not because we needed young players in the league because in 2016, we introduced 4 new teams. The biggest question for the teams was how we can give them a larger player pool. Because it worked so well, several teams started investing in nurseries, grassroot program, and that is a very strong process of the league. For example, if you have a look at the Puneri Paltan franchise, most of the young players are from their own program," Goswami explained.

The speed at which the fan base for Kabaddi is expanding is encouraging, however, those in the corridors of power are not planning on slowing down.

"The cumulative reach has increased. The number of people consuming the sport is increasing. Currently, our model is based on franchise but we need to convert them into sports clubs. You see, every club has its own home stadium and for us to build home stadium it is going to take a lot of time. But it is a work in progress and I am sure that we will reach there," said Goswami.

The 10th season of the Pro Kabaddi League will kick off with the Gujarat Giants, captained by Fazel Atrachali, facing up against the Telugu Titans, led by Pawan Sehrawat.

The Pro Kabaddi League Season 10 Ahmedabad leg will be played from December 2-7, 2023. Thereafter, the league will move in the following order of venues - Bengaluru (December 8-13, 2023), Pune (December 15-20, 2023), Chennai (December 22-27, 2023), Noida (December 29, 2023 - January 3, 2024), Mumbai (January 5-10, 2024), Jaipur (January 12-17, 2024), Hyderabad (January 19-24, 2024), Patna (January 26-31, 2024), Delhi (February 2-7, 2024), Kolkata (February 9-14, 2024) and Panchkula (February 16-21, 2024). (ANI)