Anand Mahindra's PKL issues tender to auction media rights deal for next 5 years

The sport of Kabaddi in India made a remarkable growth thanks to Indian business tycoon Anand Mahindra backing the Pro Kabaddi League, which was launched way back in 2014. The tournament has become a major success over the last seven seasons. However, the 8th season of the competition was postponed due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. While the dates for the new season are yet to be out, Pro Kabaddi is still in news off the mat with reports emerging about media rights being put up for an e-auction.

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Pro Kabaddi Media rights to be auctioned

As per InsideSport, the new season could see broadcasters and live streaming partners on board other than Star Sports and Disney+ Hotstar as the Star India-controlled Mashal Sports is planning to auction the media rights for the Pro Kabaddi League. The reason behind auctioning the media rights is understood to be a conflict of interest and increased pressure from the team franchises for a better pay structure from the broadcaster. 

Also Read: Abhishek Bachchan More Like 'Senior Player' Than Team Owner At Pink Panthers: Amit Hooda

The online auction process is slated to be held on April 6 this year. The PKL media invitation to tender will be issued on Thursday itself. Interested parties can bid for four packages— Television, digital, gaming and consolidated (combination of all three).

PKL commissioner and Mashal Sports CEO Anupam Goswami said that bidders are being encouraged to go for the package deal, under which they will be allowed to sub-licence gaming rights. The bidders will also be given flexibility to work with PKL in accordance with their appetite.

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He further added that real-time transparency will be kept among all bidders with Star India being a responsible majority owner of the league, which will continue. He also said that the network has built PKL into a modern spectacle on TV and other screens and a similar relationship will be maintained with incoming media partners

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Kabaddi documentary on Abhishek Bachchan-owned Jaipur Pink Panthers 

Apart from some action on the mat, Kabaddi fans were given a taste of what goes behind the scenes with the Jaipur Pink Panthers team with a Kabaddi documentary on Amazon Prime called Sons of Soil, that was launched in December 2020.

The Kabaddi documentary Amazon Prime summary includes Jaipur Pink Panthers owner Abhishek Bachchan's gambling on young, but inexperienced Kabaddi players to win India's biggest Kabaddi competition. This docuseries was filmed while the players were preparing for the Season 7 of the Pro Kabaddi League in 2019. The docuseries features Abhishek Bachchan, Bunty Walia, Sandeep Dhull, Amit Hooda, Deepak Niwas Hooda, Saurabh Mishra, Deepak Narwal, Nitin Rawal, Srinivas Reddy, and Nilesh Salunke. 

Image: Pro Kabaddi / Twitter