Vivek Lodha on the investment in Premier Handball League, rules of the league and more

Bengaluru, December 1: Handball has been making rapid strides in India in recent times, especially with the launch of the Premier Handball League (PHL) and, the sport has also been included in Khelo India, facilitating grassroots development.

With the introduction of PHL, Bluesport Entertainment Pvt Ltd-the official license holders under the aegis of HFI-is aiming to revolutionise the way handball is being played in India as well as ensuring better financial sustainability for the players and the entire sporting ecosystem.

PHL has already been working with the national federation, tapping potential talents across the country and providing them a platform to showcase their talent.

Bluesport Entertainment Pvt Ltd will invest Rs 240 crore over the next five years on development of the sport and it's ecosystem in the country. The company has also brought on board entrepreneurs Vivek Lodha and Abhinav Banthia as strategic investors.

Vivek Lodha, Investor and Director Bluesport Entertainment Pvt Ltd, in an interview with myKhel revealed the reason for showing interest in the sport, the rules of the much anticipated league and more.

Here is what Mr. Vivek Lodha answered to the question posed by myKhel:

1: What propelled you to join hands with handball in a country like India?

As an investor, co-founder and shareholder in the League, I strongly believed in the idea. I believe that sports entertainment is here to stay and thus I believe that there is going to be a massive market in sports entertainment since there is a huge population of youth in India and this youth is definitely attracted to a fast-paced game and so being an investor, one always looks at things from the perspective of the market share and market value of the sport and I strongly believe that there is a huge market potential for the sport of Handball in India to grow.

2: What will be format of the Premier Handball League? Are we going to see foreign players too in the league?

Premier Handball League season 1 shall have 6 franchise-based teams, each representing a state. Subsequently the number of teams will be increased up to 12. Each team will have a mix of Indian and foreign players, as handball is truly a global sport, with more than 190 countries playing the sport.

3: How are you planning to promote the league? Are you planning to roping some celebrity to popularise the sport in the inaugural edition? Do you think is it really needed to rope in celebrities?

Our major strength to promote the league at ground level is going to be massive handball community in India. We are going to promote the league by educating sport lovers in this country through rules of handball videos.

We have a strong marketing plan which encompasses not only traditional marketing tools like PR, OOH, Print and Electronic media, social media and digital campaigns, but also non-traditional tools like awareness through ground activations. It's a massive task for initial stages of the league, but we are confident about its effectiveness.

We have devised different routes for celebrities to engage with us. We are working on all of these models simultaneously. Announcements shall be made at the appropriate time but yes, we are going to rope in celebrities at some level to popularize the sport and the league.

Ideally, a sport league should not require a celebrity to associate for the purpose of popularizing the league, and internationally major sport leagues don't require celebrities.

However, India is a different story where people connect with celebrities on an emotional level and that's the reason even a sport like cricket, which does not require any promotion, ropes in celebrities.

4: You are going to invest a whopping sum of Rs 240 crore in the sport. How do you propose to distribute this staggering amount in the overall development of the game?

Handball, while played across the length and breadth of this country, needs marketing and promotion. A promotion of handball in general and the league in particular is one of the main focus areas of the company.

So, we have allocated 25% of our investment towards promoting the sport of handball and the league through marketing. 10% of the budget will go towards players and coaches' development program and 15% has been allocated to infrastructure development and utilization. Remaining will be spent on league execution.

5: Preparing a quality talent pool for constant influx of players throughout the tournament is a massive challenge. How are the various stakeholders planning to meet this challenge?

First step to ensure constant influx was to create a database of registered handball players in India, linked to their performance. We have already done that process. There are multiple activities organized by the Handball federation of India, throughout the year, we attend these tournaments for scouting purpose.

We have developed a comprehensive talent identification and development program for junior players to catch young potential. After season 1 of the Premier Handball League, we shall be conducting nationwide selection trials each year to shortlist best players from across the nation.

6: There has been a surge in several non-cricketing franchise-based leagues. While some succeeded and the others are still trying to hold ground. How are going to ensure PHL turns out to be a success?

In our opinion, any franchise-based sports league should be built around a team sport. It should have massive awareness and the financial implications for franchisees should be balanced in such a manner as to give them a chance to generate returns on their investment.

A franchise should be committed towards the sport and should be part of journey of success of sport. We have chosen franchisee who are like this, and hence will help us in promoting the sport too.

We have checked all the right boxes when it comes to financial modelling of the league. For awareness, we are going to run one of the most promising grassroots development programs for an Olympic sport in India.

7: The success of any league falls heavily on the shoulders of the heroes of the game. How are you going to ensure that?

Before the launch of the season one, we are already creating stories of the Heroes of Handball. These are players who have represented India internationally through struggles and dedicated their lives for the love of the sport. Once the season starts, the league itself will create its heroes and their will find acceptance among sport lovers.

Majority of our players come from humble background and their success through this league shall create inspiration and attract interest and participation from communities.

We are going to show that its possible to create a successful career in sports through handball and you can carry the hopes of a billion plus people on your shoulders, representing India at the international stage through Handball. We want to create national or international heroes of the game through the medium of league.