MUMBAI: Player auctions for season 9 of Vivo Pro Kabaddi, set to begin in the first week of October, witnessed the record for the highest-paid player in the league’s history broken twice in quick succession.
Raider Vikash Kandola was the first player to exceed the previous highest bid amount across of Rs 1.65 crore across 8 seasons with a winning bid of Rs 1.70 crore from Bengaluru Bulls. This was shortly followed by a historic moment when leading raider Pawan Sehrawat was bought for an astounding Rs 2.26 crore by Tamil Thalaivas. This was a 38% jump from the previous highest-paid player, indicating how Pro Kabaddi is growing from strength to strength each season.
Over the course of 2 days, 4 players crossed the exclusive Rs 1 crore mark while 11 others were sold for Rs 50 lakh or more.
As per BARC, season 8 of Vivo Pro Kabaddi delivered a cumulative reach of around 250 million with an average time spent per viewer of 25.4 minutes, a staggering number for a sport that has a total duration of 40 mins per match. The league garnered a 20% increase in viewership from NCCS AB over the previous season, setting new benchmarks for the league adding to its existing stronghold in the heartland of India.
Season 9 is building up to be a festive celebration for fans and advertisers as the league will travel to multiple venues in the country and fans across these venues waiting to be a part of the high-octane entertainment that Kabaddi brings. With the league happening during a period of accelerated buying, advertisers on TV will look to cash in on Season 9 of Vivo Pro Kabaddi to drive large-scale awareness and leverage the power of innovative integrations to create deeper engagement with viewers.
Each PKL team’s top buy
Bengal Warriors
Top Buy: Deepak Niwas Hooda Rs 43 lac
Total Players Purchased: 22
Bengaluru Bulls
Top Buy: Vikash Kandola Rs 1.70 cr
Total Players Purchased: 18
Dabang Delhi K.C.
Top Buy: Ravi Kumar Rs 64.10 lac
Total Players Purchased: 20
Gujarat Giants
Top Buy: Rinku Narwal Rs 40 lac
Total Players Purchased: 24
Haryana Steelers
Top Buy: Manjeet Rs 80 lac
Total Players Purchased: 19
Jaipur Pink Panthers
Top Buy: Sunil Kumar Rs 90 lac
Total Players Purchased: 18
Patna Pirates
Top Buy: Sachin Rs 81 lac
Total Players Purchased: 21
Puneri Paltan
Top Buy: Fazel Atrachali Rs 1.38 cr
Total Players Purchased: 18
Tamil Thalaivas
Top Buy: Pawan Sehrawat Rs 2.26 cr
Total Players Purchased: 18
Telugu Titans
Top Buy: Parvesh Bhainswal Rs 62 lac
Total Players Purchased: 23
U Mumba
Top Buy: Guman Singh Rs 1.215 cr
Total Players Purchased: 20
U.P Yoddhas
Top Buy: Pardeep Narwal Rs 90 lac
Total Players Purchased: 21
