World Kabaddi League

Kabaddi is set for a major facelift with the launch of World Kabaddi League (WKL), a venture of the Punjab government.The league follows the Formula 1 touring sports format and will be played across four continents starting from August to December.

The official website of the World Kabaddi League was launched by Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and Pargat Singh, sports administrator and ex-Olympian. Pargat Singh,  who has been closely involved in the daily scope of operations of the league commenting on the momentous occasion said, "After successfully executing four editions of Kabaddi World Cup in Punjab, we realised the need for a professional kabaddi league which connects South Asians across the world with their traditional heritage. By adding more action-oriented elements to this original Indian contact team sport, we are making it viewer-friendly."



The World Kabaddi League (WKL) will see participation by 10 teams from India, Canada, the US, the UK and Pakistan.WKL has announced two of the 10 team owners - rapper and musician Yo Yo Honey Singh and Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar. The tournament will span over 18 weekends, starting in England and ending in India. During the course of the tournament, the teams will travel from England to Italy, the United Arab Emirates, the US, Canada and India.
For the first year, the franchise fee for the team owners has been fixed at Rs 1 crore. This is marginally less than the Rs 1.5 crore forked out by the franchise owners in the Anand Mahindra- and Charu Sharma-promoted Pro Kabaddi League. The player fee cap on teams, however, is significantly higher in the case of WKL at Rs 1.5 crore as opposed to Rs 60 lakh in case of Pro Kabaddi League. In case of WKL, the teams also have a spending limit of Rs 2.5 crore on marketing and promotions, making the total spending cap on each team at Rs 5 crore for the first season.

The total prize money in the WKL is Rs 3.5 crore with Rs 1.7 crore going to the first-place holder, Rs 80 lakh to the second-place holder and the rest would be equally split between third- and fourth-place holders.

The total prize money in the Pro Kabaddi League is Rs 1 crore.