Hockey India promises bigger HIL after team owners raise concerns

The team owners of the Hockey India League (HIL) have raised a few concerns about how the first edition of the league was run. While the league was well received, the owners were unhappy over how the sponsorship earning failed to realise expected results.

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Hockey India (HI) through its promoters had suggested earning of Rs 90 crore through sponsorship deals. However, the real income was a little over Rs 13 crore.

Team owners cornered HI citing losses of around Rs 13 crore for those who owned both the men's and women's teams. Losses of franchise owners who bid for a single team were significantly lesser. The men's field had eight teams, while the women's competition had only four, which would rise to six in the next season.

While poor broadcast quality was one of the issues raised about the first season, increasing the players' purse and improving marketing strategies were among the important points for the upcoming season discussed during a meeting held in Bhubaneswar last month.

Owners had to shell out Rs 7 crore for bidding for a men's team, while owning a women's team set them back by Rs 2.5 crore, which excluded the tax. Operational cost of running both teams meant owners had to spend upwards of Rs 20 crore.

To sweeten the deal, HI has announced to distribute 60 per cent of the Rs 13 crore from sponsorships amongst the team owners. Additionally, HI has also announced that it will pay Rs 1 crore to the men's team owners and Rs 50 lakh to the women's franchise owners.

Further, HI acknowledged in the meeting that it would work towards better commercial deals for the upcoming season, also deciding to hire a commercial head to push the revenue growth.

"Teams asked that the profit and loss account of the first season should be shared with everyone. Although, they showed it to us, they are yet to share with us," said a source.

"Broadcast quality, players' purse and better marketing strategy were some of the pointers put forward in the meeting. Although, it is clear that they are not interested in increasing the players' purse for the next season," he added.

Another team source said that HI needs to up its sponsorship game. "It is a given that the league will take some time to break even but they could have done much more. They said they are to earn Rs 90 crore from sponsorships and they failed to cross even Rs 15 crore," he said.

The players' purse of Rs 4 crore and Rs 2 crore for each men's and women's team, respectively, was another bone of contention as it proved a hindrance for many to bid for top players.

HI secretary Bhola Nath Singh acknowledged that concerns were raised but said the federation is doing everything to help the team owners.

"All the decisions have been taken with everyone's approval. We have shared everything with the franchise owners. As per concerns about sponsorships, we have appointed a marketing committee and rest assured the next edition will be better and bigger," Singh told The Tribune on Monday.