2008 saw the glitzy and glamorous inauguration of the professional franchisee cricket league, the Indian Premier League (IPL). Aside from the cricketers, what captured the attention of Indians was that industrialists/corporates and actors invested huge monies and bet big on professional franchisee cricket league. In addition to developing grassroots level players, IPL created a large pool of career cricket professionals who had the opportunity to earn big bucks even if they were not part of the National Indian cricket team playing XI.
However, this was not the first time that Indian corporates were investing in sports as many had supported sports at the grassroots level. One such conglomerate is JK Organisation, promoted by the Singhania family - which has through the years backed multiple sporting initiatives. For example, the Singhania family has supported cricket in Uttar Pradesh and the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association for over five decades. In addition, the company is also the promoter of domestic cricket league teams - Gwalior Cheetahs cricket team, franchise team of Madhya Pradesh League and Jaanbaaz Kota Challengers, part of the Rajasthan Premier League.
Going beyond cricket, the conglomerate has turned its attention to the ‘unsaid national sport of the country’, hockey – a sport in which India has seen its biggest success at the Olympics. Taking this effort to the next level, Yadu Sports - a special-purpose vehicle established by Yadu International Limited and owned by Dr. Raghavpat Singhania and Madhavkrishna Singhania, promoters of JK Cement Limited - was set up. The key undertaking of Yadu Sports is, UP Rudras - the Lucknow-based Hockey India League (HIL) professional field hockey team.
The first avatar of HIL was in 2013 with the league played for five seasons, which was unfortunately followed by setbacks before HIL was revived in the 2024-25 edition with eight league teams. Talking about HIL in its first outing, Madhavkrishna Singhania, Joint Managing Director and CEO - JK Cement Ltd. & Co-Founder - Yadu Sports says, “HIL had a massive role to play in upgrading Indian Hockey and we saw India winning two bronze medals in the past two Olympics, 2020 and 2024. The Olympic wins have rejuvenated an interest amongst the youth and amongst viewers to watch hockey.” He adds, “Continuing this momentum forward, we feel that if corporates invest in HIL and it does well then there's a great potential for India to win gold at the Olympics in 2028 or 2032. Youngsters get a great opportunity to play with some of the best globally. That opportunity can truly transform India's future in hockey and that's why we're investing in hockey.”
Though hockey has lost some of its sheen in the country, Singhania strongly believes that a Gold at the Olympics will help the national sport come back to the forefront and get the attention it deserves. While most Indians can easily recognize cricketers, the same cannot be said about the hockey players. Singhania states that an Olympic victory will help create heroes in Indian hockey who will then get the recognition they deserve across the country. Singhania points out that members of the Indian Men’s hockey team - such as Harmanpreet Singh, Manpreet Singh and PR Sreejesh - that won a bronze medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic are now more recognized than before.
Betting On UP Rudras
Historically, Uttar Pradesh has produced some of the legends in Indian hockey, including the likes of Major Dhyan Chand, KD Singh aka Babu and Ashok Kumar amongst others. The State still contributes players to the current national team such as Lalit Kumar Upadhyay and this was one of the reasons for the JK Cement to look at a franchisee from the State. Singhania says, “Having a franchisee from UP can help us work at the grassroots to give people an opportunity to showcase their talent and also engage with the local people. As a family, the JK Organisation has its roots from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh. So that's another reason to pick Uttar Pradesh as the State to have our franchisee, UP Rudras.”
The recently concluded season of Hero Hockey India League was held from 28 December 2024 to 1 February 2025 with matches being held in Rourkela, Odisha and Ranchi, Jharkhand – both cities being hockey hubs with a huge following for the sport in these states. In addition, both cities boost of excellent infrastructure and stadiums when it comes to hockey. Singhania states, “If there is a sport after cricket which has an emotional impact on Indians, it's probably hockey, which is why there's a huge potential for that impact to take place.” The Hero Hockey India League was telecast on the national broadcaster, Doordarshan as well as on Sony Sports Network and streamed on Sony Liv and WAVES, the free OTT platform by Prasar Bharati. To build the local fan base, the franchisee engaged with viewers across the State through on-ground activations and social media engagements.
Though the company owns two cricket teams in the domestic league, UP Rudras is the first step in the national league. Singhania says, “The biggest change for us is that it's a national league with a national impact. It's a very different scale as the as state leagues are much smaller in scale and their primary purpose is to build a talent pipeline. We now represent the sport at a national level and are building the talent pipeline for the future Indian team. That is a matter of pride for us.”
Looking at team sponsors, while there was interest shown by advertisers, things did not fall in place in time. Singhania says, “We could not materialize some of the deals that were in the pipeline. However, for the next season, given there will be more time to plan and prepare we should see excellent traction in the coming year.” With lesser entertainment options in smaller towns, the league is currently targeting Tier II and Tier III towns instead of the metros and Tier I cities. Focusing on smaller towns which have excellent hockey infrastructure ensures good response, better turnouts and a full stadium.
Corporate Investment In Sport
As per Singhania, top corporates are today investing in sports as they realize the impact it creates in the society. Another factor is that most corporates are present in locations where they can create an impact at that grassroot level with a few corporates even running academies at a grassroots level to support aspiring Olympians in different sports. Asked if Yadu Sports will go beyond cricket and hockey Singhania takes a cautious approach and says, “There are always two sides to do anything. One is what a corporate can do in terms of corporate social responsibility or passion. However, in the end the financials have to add up to be sustainable. The successful leagues today - whether kabaddi or cricket - has a stable financial model. While we would love to work on other sports, in the long run it has to be sustainable so that it can sustain. We need to see which sport creates an impact, and maybe support a lower hanging fruit in terms of impact plus financial viability.”
The Road Ahead
Initially when the league started, Yadu Sports’ target was to break even within five years. “Post the first season, we need to again reflect to how things have materialized. Since the first season happened in a hurry, the second season will give us more time to also see how things go.”
Looking at revenue, initially, team sponsorship will be the biggest revenue stream for the franchisees. Going forward, broadcasting will become a revenue stream once the viewership goes up but this may take time. The focus now is on building the fan base and the community at the at the ground level, post which merchandising could be seen as a possible revenue stream also on the back of the popular players.
Asked what changes and improvements he would like implemented from the next season Singhania candidly says, “First is the window of the league. We have an exceptional window as the league happens at a time when there's not much of other sporting activity. What we could improve on is if we can start post Christmas and New Year as that's a time when foreign players want to spend time with families. If the league starts in early January till the end of February, it would be a much better window for the league. Despite the overlap with Christmas and New Year's, we've had some exceptional foreign players coming and playing here. That’s a big positive, which means that if the window is better, we'll definitely have even more participation coming in.” He continues, “Secondly, the matches have between the two stadiums in Ranchi and Rourkela. We could add a couple of more cities and maintain the same caravan system wherein all the teams move together. This will help increase the fan base in those areas. Finally, we need to build more engagement through the broadcasting and create entertainment on Television so that people tune in.”
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