Introduction	Indian Context		Tour Name	Tour Structure
Media Matters
Tour Venues	Tour Logistics		Money Matters	Media Matters

1. Live and Edited Telecasts

In PHL Season II, ESPN-Star will handle the production and broadcast of 20 live matches and 4 one-hour highlights shows for the Hockey Bharata tour, as per the breakup below.

The television feed will be available in English and Hindi, in order to increase the viewer base.

2. Production Costs

Producing a live each hockey match in the Hockey Bharata tour that is telecast live will cost about Rs. 10 lakhs in production costs. The 20 live matches in the Hockey Bharata tour will cost a total of Rs. 200 lakhs or Rs. 2 crores.

Producing an edited 1-hour Highlights package for each Elite tournament is estimated to cost about Rs. 5 lakhs in production costs.

Because there will be 20 live telecast of matches and 5 hours of Highlights Shows, the estimated total available commercial time will be as follows:

Besides the above, there can be various other sources of revenue generation

3. Revenue Generation

It is estimated that each live match in the Hockey Bharata tour can generate 5 minutes of advertising time, while each 1-hour highlights package can generate 3 minutes of advertising time.

Because there will be 20 live telecast of matches and 5 hours of Highlights Shows, the estimated total available commercial time will be as follows:

Besides the above, there can be various other sources of revenue generation

• Action Replay of each individual goal, branded with sponsor's name
• Goal Maal - all goals shown at the end of the game (similar to Master Blaster in cricket)
• Man of the Match sponsor for the live matches
• Goal of the Tournament sponsor

4. Royalty Payment

In lieu of a royalty payment, Hockey Bharata will underwrite the entire prize money being offered by each tournament's organisers. Prize money totalling Rs. 70 lakhs (USD 160,000), a more than four-fold increase from what is currently being offered, will be distributed as follows:

• Rs. 50 lakhs - for the 4 Grand Slams and 1 Tour Championship (Rs. 10 lakhs/tournament)
• Rs. 20 lakhs - for the 3 Elite and 1 Hockey Hinterland tournaments (Rs. 5 lakhs/tournament)

5. How Hockey Bharata Television Coverage Compares With PHL Season I

There are 20 live matches being shown in both PHL Season I and the proposed Hockey Bharata tour. However, the fact that PHL Season I followed a League model and Hockey Bharata will follow a Tour model make for some significant differences:

a. Live Matches

Each live match in Hockey Bharata will be a knockout, while each match in PHL Season I was just a regular league match. In PHL Season I telecasts, only matches were won or lost, while in the Hockey Bharata telecasts, tournaments will be won or lost

b. Telecast Venues

All the PHL Season I matches were telecast from only 1 city (Hyderabad), while Hockey Bharata's matches will be telecast from 9 metro and mid-metro cities of India. There will be more diversity and local flavour in the Season II telecasts - different tournaments, different venues, different fans, all linked by the Hockey Bharata tour.

c. Season Duration

PHL Season I had the feel of a glorified 1-venue, 1-month exhibition tournament. In contrast, Hockey Bharata will be a circuit of 9 linked tournaments at 9 venues spread over a 6 to 9 month span. It is easier to develop fan following with the continuous exposure provided by Hockey Bharata over the duration of a season.

d. Team Loyalties

It was difficult to develop fan loyalties in PHL Season I, since the teams exist for only 1 month every year. In fact, it was difficult for even the players to have loyalties to their temporary teams in Season I, which were formed by splitting existing domestic and foreign teams, and distributing their players around.

In the proposed Hockey Bharata tour, institutions employ players on a permanent basis, and the institutional team members play together for the entire season. It makes sense for the institutions to invest in their players, and it makes sense for the fans to follow such permanent teams.

4. CONCLUSION

In hockey, as in cricket, India is the financial centre of the sport. India has the largest fan base and provides the most media exposure for hockey in the world. Recognising this reality, ESPN Star Sports sought to create and own a high-profile sports property called the Premier Hockey League.

This document examined various aspects of first season of PHL, and laid out a blueprint for an improved PHL Season II - Hockey Bharata - The Indian Hockey Tour - a property that will be sustainable in the Indian hockey context, and which ESPN-Star can produce, broadcast, market and own in the Indian hockey space.