TPL CO-FOUNDERS KUNAL THAKKUR AND MRUNAL JAIN share insights into the league’s vision, growth strategy, grassroots initiatives such as Race to Gold, and how innovation, fan engagement, and brand partnerships are shaping both tennis and the wider sports ecosystem in India.
Since its inception in 2018, the league has transformed the way tennis is consumed and celebrated in the country from introducing a fast-paced 25-point format to attracting top-50 ranked players and global broadcast partners.
In this conversation with Piyush Dhembare, the co-founders reflect on TPL’s journey and its ambition to evolve into a global tennis event rooted in India.
EDITED EXCERPTS:
TPL is carving its own space in a cricket-dominated franchise ecosystem. What convinced you that tennis could thrive in a league format in India?
To answer that, I think our vision was always to make it a global property, and not only India-based. Of course, India is our core market and we want to grow tennis mainly in India, and we are promoting Indian players. But if you talk about the viewer or the fan base, we want to create a fan base for our Indian players and the sport all over the world, and of course, for the league. And as we know, cricket is very popular in India, but if you talk about global reach, tennis and football are played by many more nations than those that play cricket. So we saw the opportunity there and we thought tennis, having been involved with the sport for many years and with the support we’re getting from the All India Tennis Association and others involved, was the first love and the first choice.
Several national and international tennis leagues including the Champions Tennis League and International Premier Tennis League were unable to sustain. What differentiates TPL from those models?
We learned a lot from them and that’s the reason we started very small in 2018. We started with local players from Mumbai who participated in the league. What we wanted to test was the 25-point format. It worked beautifully in 2018 and we knew that CTL and IPTL were not able to sustain. That’s the reason we grew step by step. We created our fan base, we created our audience, we got in the best sponsors, and we roped in the best team owners. And we are scaling it year by year and not overcommitting or getting too ambitious considering the Indian market. So that’s, I think, one of the reasons we’ve sustained for seven years.
What is the long-term vision for the TPL?
So the long-term vision is very simple, we both have a dream to create an event like a Grand Slam in India. In a Grand Slam, you have people from all over the world who come to watch it. That’s the same thing we want to do with TPL. Back in 2018, when we told the owners that we wanted to create a tennis league with a 25-point format and that top players from around the world would come and play, it sounded very difficult and like a dream. But seven years down the line, we have players like Luciano Darderi, who’s world number 27, and Arthur Rinderknech, who’s world number 26. We now have three players in the top 30 and five in the top 50 playing in TPL. From 2018 to 2023, I think we have very well achieved the dream and the vision that we had. Now our next goal is, of course, to create an event like a Grand Slam in India.
Pathway programmes are now critical for talent development in sport. Your TPL Race to Gold initiative appears to play a key role here. How has the response been?
We know very well that until the sport grows, the league will not grow, and the sport will only grow if the players are doing well internationally. To achieve that for tennis in India, we created the Race to Gold scholarship, where we are conducting district-ranking tournaments in every state. All of this is being done under the state associations like in Maharashtra, there is the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association; in Delhi, we have an agreement with the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association; and we also have tie-ups with the Haryana Tennis Association and Gujarat State Tennis Associations. So, along with the associations, we are conducting tournaments at the grassroots level. These are all run through the TPL app, and the top players of each district then compete in the Masters.
We have the Masters coming up, the North Zone Masters in Delhi from 14–15 November, and then the Gujarat Masters from 22–23 November, followed by the Maharashtra Masters. The top-ranked players of the tournament get a scholarship of Rs 75,000 each. Along with that, they get the chance to play with Leander Paes and interact with Rohan Bopanna. We also get them to watch top players live during TPL matches.
We’ve been conducting online monthly free seminars for them. Last week, we hosted a seminar with Vishal Uppal; before that, with Zeeshan Ali; and earlier, with Nandan Bal. So, all the top coaches of India are conducting free seminars and webinars for these kids and their parents to guide them. Whatever best support we can give our upcoming players, we are providing through the TPL.
How is TPL approaching innovation in match structure, fan engagement and content delivery?
To be honest, when we started in 2018, we held a couple of meetings and did our research. What we understood was that nobody’s actually watching tennis for three or three and a half hours. Nobody’s watching a five-setter or three-setter match unless you have Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, or Carlos Alcaraz playing, the top guys. We knew we didn’t have that, so the only thing we had was the format. We knew we couldn’t keep a long-duration match, so we cut down the format.
We made it a 25-point system, so if you’re watching a match between Mumbai and Delhi, the entire fixture consists of four games, men’s singles, women’s singles, mixed doubles, and men’s doubles. This entire 100-point contest gets over in around 60 minutes. It’s very entertaining for the audience, exciting for the viewers, and exciting for the players because every point matters. In our format, every point adds to the total team tally. That’s what has really worked for us.
You come from an entertainment background. How has that influenced TPL’s marketing strategy, storytelling, and overall watchability?
Any sport, when it moves into a league format, requires a lot of additional elements. So, I think when we talk about the marketing element we’ve added in TPL, it’s a 360-degree plan covering outdoor, digital, broadcast, on-ground activation, and print. Multiple roles have been added to the sport to amplify it, which helps brands to sponsor and partner with tennis.
In season one, we had only 11 hoardings; we’ve now grown to 75. That’s the kind of scaling that has taken place over the years. The most important factor that definitely adds to TPL, beyond the sport itself, is the storytelling, the players’ journeys and brand engagement.
As we all know, a lot has been digitized. So, a lot of content creation happens with TPL, beyond just showing live sport or displaying brand logos. That’s played a key role in highlighting the success story of penetrating the audience. That’s how TPL has managed to ensure strong footfall and engagement.
Sponsorship in niche sports can be challenging. Which categories have shown the strongest interest towards TPL?
I think, of course, when you talk about a sport, the first thing that comes to mind is tennis. So, when tennis comes to mind, it’s definitely Yonex Sunrise, which plays a key role because they manufacture the equipment. It’s been a very organic partnership, they’ve been with us for the last six years, and this is their seventh.
Another strong partnership is with Clear Premium Water. Hydration is important for every sport, and it’s directly linked to athletes. Clear has been with us for the last four years. Then there are multiple non-cricketing sponsors who have joined TPL like Jeep, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and Croma. All of these brands have shown interest and partnered with TPL not just for the sport, but because they understand that we execute a 360-degree plan. We always say it’s not about the brand logo; it’s about partnership. And TPL has always created partnership with brands.
From a commercial perspective, what are TPL’s key revenue streams today, and how do you see that mix evolving over the next five years?
A very good revenue stream opened up for us last year, which is the international broadcast. As mentioned earlier, tennis is a global sport watched by many more countries than those that follow cricket. Last year, we had Willow TV and Okko TV, these are international platforms that bought broadcasting rights for the Tennis Premier League, which is very rare for a non-cricketing league. That is one of the major revenue streams we’re focusing on, and that’s also why we’ve attracted international players from around the world who are highly ranked. When top players from Germany or Italy play in your league, broadcasters from those countries are eager to acquire rights.
Apart from that, sponsorship remains the key to every league, and ours has grown year by year with more brands joining in. For instance, last year, Jeep Meridian came in as a sponsor, and the winning team received a Jeep Meridian car worth Rs 50 lakh. Yonex continues its partnership, Clear’s commercials has grown each year, and we’ve also had brands like Sofitel and Ola come on board. So, sponsorship and international broadcast rights are our two major revenue streams.
Are there any new revenue streams you’re exploring?
There’s another opportunity that has come our way this year, several countries and cities in India want to host sporting events. That could also become a revenue stream, where a country or city would want to help commercially if we do the event in their city. Like you see the Filmfare Awards moved to Ahmedabad due to government support. Similarly, there are these football leagues that are coming up in UAE, fuelled by local investment in sport. People are increasingly ready to invest in sport, and I’m sure there will be opportunity where TPL could be hosted by another country. So that could be another revenue team for us.
In fact, we were in talks with the Qatar Association this year, but the timeframe was short to complete the paperwork. we always like to be safe on our end and take steps we’re fully confident about. So, there were talks of the league moving to Qatar, but maybe hopefully in the next coming years.
What are the league’s strategic priorities going forward?
There are two main priorities. One is to grow the sport, whatever needs to be done to support our players and give back to the team owners, whether commercially, through marketing, or positioning. We want to take care of our players and the sport, and at the same time make it a viable investment for our team owners. Of course, growing the fan base and the viewership is a basic thing which we’ve been working on and growing year by year. Last year, our digital reach was 104 million, and this year our target is 200 million. So, we are doubling our promotional each year.