Introduction
| Introduction | Indian Context | |
Tour Name | Tour Structure |
Introduction | |
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| Tour Venues | Tour Logistics | Money Matters | Media Matters | |
1. Executive Summary
There are two broad categories of professional sports leagues:
The inaugural Premier Hockey League (PHL), a joint project of ESPN-Star Sports, Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) and Leisure Sports Management, was based on the NBA league model. However, it will be shown that a hockey league based on the NBA model is not scalable, sustainable or even suitable in the Indian hockey context.
It is suggested that PHL Season II be based, not on the NBA League model, but on the ATP Tour model. This proposed PHL Season II should be a Tour comprising long-standing Indian tournaments, established Indian teams and marquee foreign clubs. A Hockey Tour, rather than a Hockey League, will be financially sustainable in the long run in India, without the need for being heavily subsidised by ESPN-Star.
2. Sports League Characteristics
Before we describe the proposed Tour in detail, it is important to distinguish between structural aspects of a professional sports league and its promotional aspects.
Some of the common structural characteristics of a successful sports league/tour are:
With the above framework in place, there can be any number of promotional characteristics such as:
3. Failings of PHL Season I
PHL Season I had almost none of the structural characteristics of a sustainable sports league. While team names, colours and logos are new, and fashion shows and designer clothes and television promotions will certainly catch people's attention, no amount of media hype can support, in the long run, a weakly structured league. Just because you call it a league does not make it one.
PHL Season I had the following deficiencies:
a. Artificial grouping of teams
'Maratha Warriors' and 'Sher-e-Jalandhar' look good on paper and may seem novel, but in reality, they are abstract, artificial and temporary entities. For instance, an independent, financial organisation called 'Maratha Warriors' does not exist; once the month-long PHL is over, the 'Weekend Warriors' have to get back to their regular day jobs or look for other part-time jobs.
It is difficult to have fan loyalties or sustain viewer interest or buy promotional merchandise for artificial teams that exist only for one month every year.
b. Teams had no say in their own player selection
The IHF decided which teams should be in the PHL. Then, the IHF decided who should be the captains of the respective teams. Finally, the IHF decided who should be the coaches of each team. Where was the freedom for each team to choose its own players/captains/coaches?
Does the NBA decide which player should be in the Lakers or who should be its coach? Can it even dare to?
c. Players were not full-time employees of their teams
In January/February 2005, Dhanraj Pillai played for the Maratha Warriors in the PHL. From March through June 2005, Dhanraj played for Indian Airlines in premier domestic tournaments in the country. From July through August 2005, Dhanraj played for Telekom Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur. So in the 2005 hockey season, with which city and which team will fans associate Dhanraj Pillai with?
How can any media promotion gloss over the obvious fact that player-team associations in the PHL are temporary and non-unique in nature?
d. Single month, single venue
The main reason that PHL Season I had the feel of a tournament rather than a league was that all the matches were played over just one month and in just one venue (Gachibowli Stadium in Hyderabad). The PHL was nothing but the National Games or the Senior Nationals, on steroids. Before one could blink, the season got over, and the fans moved on to other sports.
In contrast, the NBA, on which the PHL is based, consists of 30 teams from all over USA, and is played at various venues over a 9-month schedule (October through June). Thus, the NBA can never be confused with a single-venue, single month tournament of artificially created teams.