"League's growth must rest on fans, competition....": PKL Chairman Anupam

New Delhi [India], September 13 (ANI): Anupam Goswami, Business Head, Mashal Sports and League Chairman, Pro Kabaddi League, highlighted the transformative role of professional leagues in shaping modern Indian sports on Friday.

Addressing the panel titled 'India in a League of its Own: How India Shapes Global Sport' at PlayCom 2025: Business of Sports Summit at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, also stressed finding a balance between scale, sustainability, and global competitiveness for the sustenance of a sporting league.

Outlining the fundamentals needed for any league to achieve its next phase of growth, Goswami stressed four key pillars: fans, quality of competition, talent pipeline, and governance.

"There is a need to update your platform as per fans' demand constantly. At the same time, the competition must represent the very best level of the sport. A strong pipeline must be created for future talent, and it must come together within a governance structure that provides sustainability and drives future growth," he said during the session," he said as quoted by a press release.

"The opportunity and talent in kabaddi will always be compared to the biggest league in India, the IPL. While PKL is a strong setup today, there is still a stratospheric level above us to aim for. The biggest marker of success for any league globally is the depth of its competition. For Kabaddi, the challenge is to constantly grow at scale, to reach the widest threshold at which the sport can be played," he added.

On finding a balance between domestic and overseas talent, he noted that PKL has had to adopt a global outlook from its inception.

Goswami said, "One of the goals for the league was to grow kabaddi beyond India. The very premise of a successful sports league is that it offers its fans the best level of competition in the world. For that, you must enable the best talent - Indian and international - to perform before fans. That is why watching Iran challenge and even beat India is not a weakness, but a sign that the league has elevated kabaddi's global base."

He further expanded on how the league has impacted the career trajectories of the Indian kabaddi players, providing many structured pathways for their growth.

"I can guarantee that the entire Indian senior men's team for next year's Asian Games will be drawn from the PKL system. That is proof of the transformative impact the league has had on player quality. Many of these athletes are astounding talents, and they have now been exposed to modern sport science systems and are driven by the exposure PKL has created."

Goswami closed by underlining that the Pro Kabaddi League has a responsibility to build for the future. He said, "The journey for kabaddi has just begun. The sport must continue to adopt modern practices, create opportunities, and enhance athlete recognition within their communities. With sustained focus on governance, competition, talent, and fans, PKL can emerge as one of the finest sporting leagues not just in India, but in the world." (ANI)

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