Pro Kabaddi League Season 5: Owners For The 4 New Teams

VIVO Pro Kabaddi League has become India’s biggest and most prominent sports tournament with the addition of four new teams participating this season in the pro kabaddi league Season 5 and make it bigger than ever. which will be played in July to October 2017. Mashal Sports announced the owners of four new teams.

Mashal Sports revealed the franchise of four new teams that will represent some of the leading corporate institutions in India, including prominent owners of teams in the ongoing Indian Premier League as well as the I-League. Four new teams i.e Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat have been primarily selected for their high fan bases and their affinity towards kabaddi, and potential commercial value to sponsors and advertisers. This expansion adds to an already impressive line-up of 8 franchises in the country – Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Patna, Pune, and Jaipur.

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The franchises spent INR 46.99 crores over 227 players of the tournament. Nitin Tomar became the costliest player in the history of PKL with the bid amount INR 93 lakh, after team Uttar Pradesh acquired his services. On the other hand,  Iran’s Abozar Mohajermighani became the costliest foreign buy in the season five of PKL. Abozar went to Gujarat, another new team, for Rs 50 lakh.The new season of pro kabaddi league will feature 130 matches spread across 13 weeks in 11 different states, making it bigger than ever. The name of four teams have been announced, namely Haryana Steelers, Gujarat Fortune Giants, UP Yoddha & the name of Tamil Nadu side was revealed by Tendulkar on Twitter and it will be called the Tamil Thaliavas. This is the third franchise of the master blaster cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.

Ranbir Singh Khokkar was confirmed as coach of the Haryana Steelers. Khokkar, a native Haryanvi, and former national Kabaddi player have 35 years of coaching experience, leading India to Gold Medals at the eleventh Asian Games in Beijing in 1990 and the fourth Asian Indoor Games in Incheon in 2013. Khokkar is also known for his contribution to the Iranian Kabaddi team that now boasts of talents such as Fazel Athrachali and Meraj Sheykh, strong forces in the Pro Kabaddi League.

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VIVO Pro Kabaddi became a hit among Indian sports fans in its very first season in 2014 as 435 million* viewers tuned in. Within a short period of two years, VIVO Pro Kabaddi has gained the applause of Indian viewers and established itself as one of the high-impact television properties in Indian markets. Names such as Anup Kumar, Rahul Chaudhari, Ajay Thakur have become household names. Viewership growth of Pro Kabaddi league 51%** over 4 seasons is the highest for any sports league in India. In Andhra Pradesh, Pro Kabaddi league has even surpassed IPL and in Mumbai, it has achieved primetime slot leadership.