PRO KABADDI LEAGUE (PKL), an initiative by Mashal Sports and JioStar, along with Sportz Interactive, has celebrated receiving the YouTube Golden Play Button after surpassing one million subscribers. The milestone comes on the back of a successful Season 12, which concluded last month.
With this achievement, PKL has become only the second Indian sports league, after the Indian Super League, to cross the one-million-subscriber mark, driven by a platform-specific digital strategy led by Sportz Interactive.
To reach this audience, Sportz Interactive transformed match footage into engaging, story-driven highlights and created exclusive original content tailored for YouTube and other social platforms. Its approach also leveraged performance analytics to refine content based on viewer behaviour, while ensuring consistent thumbnails, metadata, and publishing schedules to enhance organic discovery, according to the release.
Across their seven-year partnership, Sportz Interactive and Mashal Sports have built a robust digital ecosystem that mirrors Kabaddi’s energy and tactical depth. PKL’s YouTube channel has evolved into a central hub for rivalries, behind-the-scenes access, and year-round storytelling that strengthens fan engagement.
Growing from 326K subscribers in 2020 to more than one million in 2025, PKL’s digital ascent highlights the impact of sustained storytelling, data-driven creativity, and community-building. It also underscores Sportz Interactive’s commitment to helping sports organisations deepen fan loyalty and drive commercial value through scalable, insight-led digital solutions.
Sportz Interactive senior vice president Chintan Shah said, “The Youtube Golden Play Button is more than just a numerical milestone. It exemplifies how strategic digital storytelling, supported by strong data analytics can create a vibrant fan community that generates year-round engagement across various platforms, deepening fan loyalty and fueling commercial growth for a sports league.”
