One thing that we are repeatedly asked on Twitter is on Hockey India League. The only questions that Indian hockey fans have is-
When is Hockey India League resuming?
To answer this important question, we need to dig into the past and understand why HIL was cancelled.
Official Reason: In 2018, the chairman of Hockey India League Mohd Mushtaque Ahmad spoke to the media and said that the tournament will not be played that year. However, the tournament will come back next year with a fresh outlook that will help benefit the game. HIL chairman also spoke about the scheduling issue with the tournament. In the year 2018, World Cup, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games were scheduled.
Hockey India League chairman also hinted at another reason the league was getting cancelled for 2018- finances. The franchisees were struggling financially to support the teams.
Let us look in detail at the reasons for the cancellation of the Hockey India League
TEAM FINANCES
Dabur Mumbai Magicians was the first team to withdraw from Hockey India League in 2014. Ranchi Rhinos owned by Patel-Uniexcel Group followed Mumbai in withdrawing from the league in the same season. The reason- incurring heavy losses by running the franchisee.
Sahara and Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s replaced the Ranchi franchisee while DoIT Sports management picked up the Mumbai franchisee. Despite replacing, things were not too rosy for the league.
It was not just Ranchi Rhinos and Mumbai Magicians that were suffering. This was the state of all the teams that were participating in the Hockey India League. The spokesperson for Punjab Warriors said they were losing more than Rs. 10 crores a year ($1.2 million). While the spokesperson for Ranchi Rhinos said the losses incurred for a year amounted to Rs. 10 to Rs.15 crores ($1.2 million to $1.8 million).
With teams losing support and no support from Hockey India, it was getting exceedingly difficult to run the franchisees.
Also, news articles in 2017 spoke about how few players were not getting paid by their respective franchisees.
HOCKEY INDIA
While finances were hurting the teams, the attitude of Hockey India too was not helping the franchisees. One Ranchi Rhinos official spoke to the media about the lethargic approach of the federation- ‘We requested several times to the authority to change its format and encourage franchises. But our suggestions weren’t heeded’ he said.
HIL turned out great for the players and their finances but for the owners, there were heavy losses. Suresh Kumar Chauhan of Ranchi Rhinos before pulling the team out of the league said, ‘Taking stock of last two seasons and seeing not much has changed by the structured marketing of hockey league, unlike other leagues recently introduced which are much more congenial to the franchisee profitability, there doesn’t seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel.’
While Ranchi and Mumbai pulled out, the rest of the teams continued to struggle. A Hockey India official on condition of anonymity in 2018 spoke to PTI and said, ‘We don’t know what is in store for the future. But some franchises were unhappy with the organizers.’
The teams were also promised compensation from Hockey India 2017 to manage their losses, but the amount however was peanuts compared to the losses.
Similar thoughts were also echoed by the officials of Punjab Warriors when the league was cancelled.
SCHEDULE
The schedule was also given as one of the reasons by league officials for the inability to conduct the league. The year 2018 had World Cup, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. This did not give the league officials enough time to hold the competition. League officials were right about the schedule issues. Looking back at the 2018 hockey calendar, there just wasn’t any time to hold the league.
The European club competition also affected the league. Foreign players were the stars of the Hockey India League. Out of five seasons played, foreign players were named players of the tournament three times. Missing good foreign players due to schedule clashes also affected the league.
TEAM STATUS
Delhi WaveRiders: Owned by Wave Group Delhi WaveRiders left the league in 2017. Post the death of the Wave group chairman, the group was not interested in running the team. Status: The team has folded.
Ranchi Rays and Uttar Pradesh Wizards: Mahendra Singh Dhoni was the face of Ranchi Rays; it was Sahara who backed the team. Sahara Group also owned another Hockey India League team- Uttar Pradesh Wizards. While Delhi folded, Sahara only wanted to run one team. Today, Sahara is under huge financial problems. It is unlikely that we would see any of these two teams in the Hockey India League again. Status: Unlikely to continue
Jaypee Punjab Warriors: Like other teams, Jaypee Punjab Warriors too faced also faced financial challenges running the team. In one news article, Punjab Warriors officials mentioned that the team was losing Rs. Ten crores ($1.2 million) annually. Also, there was no support function for the teams from Hockey India. Owners of Punjab Warriors also expressed their inability to continue with the league. Status: Unlikely to continue
Kalinga Lancers: Kalinga Lancers are the only team that would have no problem being part of the Hockey India League again. The franchisee, Kalinga Lancers are owned by Odisha IIDC and Mahanadi Coalfields Limited, a public sector unit. Odisha Government is also the principal sponsor of Hockey India, Lancers will have no problem being part of the league. Status: They will continue
Dabang Mumbai: Like Kalinga Lancers, Dabang Mumbai is also in better condition to play when compared to the above teams. DoIT Sports Management also has a team in Pro Kabaddi League and the team is doing well there. However, do they have the appetite to continue with the league that was making losses? It remains to be seen. Status: Unsure, but could continue
FUTURE
SCHEDULE
Talking about the future of the tournament, we need to first see the dates available for the tournament. While the 2018 season was cancelled due to the unavailability of a window, things are not so different today.
The international hockey calendar today is a mess. Pro League, the premier hockey tournament of FIH runs for 4 months a year. Also, FIH has introduced a Nations Cup for teams that are not part of the Pro League. Then we have the European domestic club competition which foreign players want to be part of while EHL is today the biggest club competition of all. Australian players who formed the crux of most Hockey India League teams also have their domestic league Hockey One.
Looking at the current schedule, it is going to be extremely difficult to carve out a special window for Hockey India League. European Hockey is already at loggerheads with FIH. FIH Pro League taking away space from European domestic competition, they would not want Hockey India League to affect their competition. If something must be given, it will be the international calendar. Will FIH agree to it?
FORMAT
Another point that we need to understand is the future format. Hockey India said that the league will come back in the year 2019 with a five-a-side format. The franchisees will have both men’s and women’s teams and there will be three competitions- men, women and mixed. Hockey India in 2018 also said, four of the six franchises, were Okay with this format. However, since then we have not heard anything about this.
Also, there are many questions about the format proposed by Hockey India. Starting with what happens to 11 a side game which is currently the heart of the sport. Will we see the likes of Manpreet and Sreejesh in a five-a-side game and then also in 11-a-side? The second question is on the development of players. The camp that is set up by Hockey India consists of 60 players and later they are trimmed. Also, the camp does not include all the junior team players. If we have 6 franchises with ten players each, making it 60 players, what happens to the development of the junior players? Remember, the development of junior players was a key reason for Hockey India League.
What happens then to the foreign players? Would foreign players want to be part of this league? If yes, Indian players already take the required sixty spots, where will they play?
BATRA EFFECT
Former FIH president, Narinder Batra in an interview in 2021 said that the league will be resuming in 2022 or 2023. He said, ‘We are confident of starting Hockey India League by 2022 or 2023. Market sentiments are also down due to Covid-19. The league can only resume when team buyers have the money.’
Post-Covid, the business has changed. Investors or franchisee owners today will think twice before putting money into a league. Especially, when the league has given no return to the franchise owners in the past. Yes, there is the effect Olympics bronze medal, but has that improved the marketability of hockey players? The answer is not so clear. There have been few sponsorships for the players but not at a scale that can be used by franchisees and earn benefits out of it.
With teams just making losses with Hockey India and in their core business, it is unlikely that those teams will continue to fund teams and not see anything in return. Apart from Narinder Batra setting up the league, he also got the title sponsorship. The sponsorships from Hero and then Coal India as title sponsorship were his work. With Batra no longer associated with hockey anymore (officially), can Hockey India even get some sponsors to run the event?
Hockey India also has troubles of its own. The game is currently being run by CoA and the focus is completely on hosting the World Cup. With the focus on the World Cup, it is unlikely that the tournament will be conducted in 2023. Pro League and upcoming Olympics in 2024, there is no point in even holding a five-a-side competition. No player, Indian or foreign, will gain anything from five-a-side competition.
Model Sustainability
Another question that is making rounds on social media is- Is the HIL model sustainable?
The answer is yes, it is. We have proof of that- the Indian Premier League (cricket), Indian Super League (Football) and Pro Kabaddi League (Kabaddi) are prime examples of the model working.
However, the key difference between all these leagues and Hockey India League is governance. Governance plays a key role when it comes to running any professional league. IPL, ISL and PKL have all professionals running the league while it was the federation that ran Hockey India League.
HIL franchisees were not happy with the way the league was run. There was no support for the teams from the HIL board, and their grievances were not heard. Indian hockey for long has been known for its archaic way of functioning. My or the highway does not work when you have a franchisee model. Investors must be heard, and their issues must be resolved.
Another difference between these other leagues and Hockey India League is marketing. HIL’s marketing despite having big names as owners like John Abraham, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina was abysmal.
IPL, ISL and PKL all made wonderful use of the star power and ensured the league was received well by the audience. Indian Super League published a full-page advertisement in the newspaper to attract people to the game. The franchisees used people’s emotions about their states or cities and garnered support. This factor of belongingness was missing in Hockey India League. Apart from Kalinga Lancers, no one was able to use fans’ emotions and garner support for the team.
CONCLUSION
Looking at the above bleak situation of franchisee owners, change in format to five-a-side, and scheduling woes, it is difficult to conduct a tournament on such a scale. I would not be surprised if we do not see Hockey India League back for the next few years.
Whenever Hockey India League makes a comeback, it must focus on governance and marketing of the game, teams, and players. Then and only then will the league succeed.
(Notes:
1.Model sustainability point has been added to the post as an update to a few points or questions that were put forward on social media.
2. INR to USD was incorrectly converted to 12 million instead of 1.2 million)
