Mumbai: The first edition of Ultimate Kho Kho, a sports league aimed at popularising the game of kho kho, kicked off on 14 August. Ultimate Kho Kho CEO & League Commissioner Tenzing Niyogi said that the aim is to be a primetime blockbuster and build it into the top three leagues of India.
"Since our independence, Kho Kho has been an integral part of our modern soil. Every Indian has at some time or other played Kho Kho, which is for both genders; boys and girls & men and women. I think that was one of our key factors in building a professional league around the sport, which gave us impetus, strength, confidence, and the foresight to build something as big as Ultimate KhoKho. As we all keep saying, this is our "mitti ka khel" which is going to finally see its soil in the spotlight moment. My vision has always been to bring the sport onto a national platform and create something which is beneficial for all the athletes and player population that Kho Kho enjoys. The idea here is to make Ultimate Kho Kho a primetime blockbuster and build it into the top three leagues of India," he tells Indiantelevision.com.
Ultimate Kho-Kho, he explains, is an initiative started by Dabur India non-executive director Amit Burman and the Kho-Kho Federation of India. The Ultimate Kho Kho league promoter, Burman, has invested Rs 200 crore in the project for a period of five years, and wants to get Kho-Kho back on the sports map of India.
The team owners includes, Chennai Quick Guns (KLO Sports), Gujarat Giants (Adani Sportsline), Mumbai Khiladis (Badshah & Punit Balan), Odisha Juggernauts (Government of Odisha), Rajasthan Warriors (Capri Global), and Telugu Yoddhas (GMR Sports).
"Rise Worldwide is the league's consultant and exclusive broadcast production partner, while Sony Pictures Network India is our official broadcast partner," Niyogi elaborated.
When asked about the level of interest in the country for Kho Kho, he noted that the level of interest for Kho Kho in India has been humongous. He said, "The best part of what I believe Kho Kho enjoys and which Ultimate Kho Kho as part of the vision has always taken forward is the fact that the deep-rooted club culture has always been the biggest support for any sports development across the globe. The fan following that Kho Kho enjoys across multiple regional layers in India has given us our brainchild, which was also to bring Ultimate Kho Kho into multiple languages."
"The fact that we've taken this so far is because there are people who are ready to consume Kho Kho in the new shape and form that we are ready to present. We believe that if we can bring this in its new avatar to the audiences of India, with the right set of stakeholders who have the vision and credibility to build this sport, not only from a financial assistance perspective but also by developing the sport in their respective catchment areas, we will increase the penetration of the sport of Kho Kho."
In terms of the learnings from the success of the Pro Kabaddi League, he said that the understanding and learnings from the past leagues have also been that when you create a league, it should have stakeholders in the shape and form of big corporate houses. "It should also involve the entertainment factors that appeal to the masses of India and do that with the right broadcaster showcasing it across multiple channels that have the right amount of distribution footprint. Also, not to forget that the important role of regional language comes about truly and specifically for any other sport that we have seen succeed in India and becomes a critical success factor for all of us."
He further noted that there has been a huge inception of non-cricketing sports since 2014. "The IPL actually created and paved the way for sports leagues in India. Since then, there has been the ingestion of multiple other sports leagues which have come about. Some have seen the success story and some might not have. Ultimate Kho Kho has been built on a few success pillars, which are, namely, one being the change of format; secondly, being a team sport; and thirdly, I think what it believes is that homegrown sports do have a special place in the Indian heart and soul.
"Of course, the concept of worldwide ranking makes it all the easier for people to establish the fact that we are doing what is best for us as far as the nation is concerned, and largely, the concept of rural penetration in India does play a humongous role in the success of any league in India. Ultimate Kho Kho has been built upon the format which was always of critical value to us, where we believe that an appointment viewing of one hour over primetime television is a very, very important role to be played."
In terms of the decision to choose Rise to handle the league, he explains that Ultimate Kho Kho has always been envisioned as a television product. It was always designed and curated in such a fashion that it became a spectacle on air. "For this reason, we have really given due consideration to television production agencies who have come and pitched to us. We went ahead with Rise for a couple of reasons. One was that the idea that Rise gave us and the confidence they gave us with the lineage of TV production was vibrant. The fact that we went back to our drawing board and discussed how many camera shots would be in Ultimate Kho Kho's tail with the inclusion of Light Spidey was another interesting piece of the jigsaw puzzle that we solved together."
Madison Media OOH group CEO Vikram Sakhuja noted that the sport is fast-paced and attractive. "Kho kho is a pretty exciting game. Earlier, people saw the potential of kabaddi, which was amped up to a new level. I have no doubt that the players will do a very good job of kho kho as well." For him, the learning of PKL was the fact that the stakeholders were patient. Initially, there were no sponsors. That is because Star wanted to show the proof of concept and then go to the market with the right price. "They were confident that value would be unlocked in one or two seasons. That is the big lesson. You want to get a good price. If you sell at the beginning, then you might get next to nothing." He noted that a punt has been taken by the various stakeholders of Ultimate Kho Kho.
