Pro Kabaddi turned a village playground game into India's second most watched league
Sceptics doubted a kabaddi league could copy cricket's IPL, since the sport had few famous players. Its first season in 2014 drew 435 million viewers, second only to that year's IPL, and within a year broadcaster Star Sports moved to take a 74% stake in the company behind it.
The idea grew from the popularity of kabaddi at the 2006 Asian Games. Eight franchises paid up to US$250,000 each to join, and the first player auction, held in Mumbai on 20 May 2014, made India's captain Rakesh Kumar the most expensive signing at ₹12.80 lakh to Patna Pirates. Backers argued that because the game was played everywhere at grassroots level, it could reach rural and city audiences alike. The final that August, won 35-24 by Jaipur Pink Panthers against U Mumba, was watched by 86.4 million people.
Prices climbed fast. By 2017 the league had grown to 12 teams, one of them the Tamil Thalaivas co-owned by Sachin Tendulkar, and that season stretched to 138 matches over 13 weeks in 11 states. Monu Goyat went to Haryana Steelers for ₹1.51 crore in 2018, then a record, and in 2022 Tamil Thalaivas paid ₹2.26 crore for Pawan Sehrawat, the highest fee the league had seen. The pandemic-era edition beginning in December 2021 abandoned the usual travelling format and played every match at a single hotel venue in Bangalore.
Patna Pirates dominated the early years with three straight titles, and eight different clubs have now been champions; Dabang Delhi took their second crown in 2025. Individual records pile up alongside: Pardeep Narwal became the first player to reach 1,000 league points, and Sehrawat once scored 39 points in a single match against Haryana. Season four in 2016 also launched the first professional women's kabaddi competition, a three-team event.
The league now runs a round-robin in which each side meets six opponents twice and six once, with the top four going straight to the playoffs and the next four to play-ins. It was named best sports league at the Confederation of Indian Industry's sports business awards in 2024.
Source: Pro Kabaddi League
