All about the development of Indian volleyball
There was information that many eminent volleyball players of the world will soon play in India. This is due to the fact that a venture capital fund from the United States started creating an Indian league with an auction of players and a Draft.
Seven years ago, the Indian Volleyball Federation was excluded from the FIVB (International Volleyball Federation). However, two years later it was returned and, it seems, the creation of its own professional league called the ProVolleyball League played a significant role in this. Prior to this, several attempts had been made to create a commercial championship, but the attempts had failed. And now, with a high probability, you can expect a successful tournament.
The venture fund Baseline Ventures, which came to India in 2014, specializes in sports marketing and has offices in major cities of this country, seriously got down to business. Prior to that, BV obtained commercial rights by signing contracts with major Indian sportsmen and now the company has reached volleyball.
The beginning of the creation of the league
Initially, Baseline Ventures came up with a league project, which included six teams. At the same time, private companies were asked to create club franchises in 14 cities. The league entry budget was $472,000. As a result, four teams were created from cities such as:
- Mumbai
- Calcutta
- Kochi
- Chennai
- Hadarabad
- Ahmedabad
Mostly volleyball clubs were owned by the presidents of teams from the more popular sports in India. But there were exceptions, the alcohol brand Kals Group took a team from Chennai under its wing. The maximum payroll per team was set by the league at $107,000. It is important to note that this budget was for the first short season, which lasted for three weeks. The rivals played in one round, and then the strongest four advanced to the 1/2 finals of the playoffs. In the case of seven fights in the battle for the trophy, the maximum number of games in the championship would be 18.
TOP Indian Volleyball Players
A specialized auction was created to form clubs. The players were divided into four categories:
- main stars;
- Until the age of 21;
- Performers with international experience;
- Legionnaires.
Each category has a base price. Then everything depended on the owners of the clubs, in the context of the most number of performers they wanted to see in their team. As a result, the most expensive was Ranjit Singh (setter), who went to the team from Ahmedabad. The most stubborn bidding erupted for Muthu Sami (another setter).
It is worth noting that the payrolls of all players, except for legionnaires, are open. The maximum number of representatives of other countries in one team is two. It is already known about the signing of such well-known volleyball players as: Tomislav Choskovich (Montenegro), Rudy Verhoff (Canada), Novica Belitsa (Serbia), Paul Lotman, Carlson Clark and David Lee (USA). Draft was created for foreign performers. The right of the first choice was given after a lot, but in the future, most likely, the worst team following the results of the last championship will start choosing.
In the debut championship at No. 1 at the Draft, American Carlson Klar was selected, whose salary is estimated at 10 thousand dollars a month. At the same time, David Lee, who has become the face of the league, may well earn a large amount. It is interesting to know that the 36-year-old Olympic champion has played in 11 different countries at the club level.
India’s challenge is a medal at the 2024 Olympics
The debut draw of the Indian volleyball championship took place in Kochi and Chennai. The organizers believed that it was in these cities that there were the most admirers of this sport. Other fans could watch the battles live on various channels with which the contract was signed for many years to come. The leaders of the league have stated that they seek to popularize volleyball in their country, as well as cricket.
Another bold statement was the desire to make India a contender for volleyball medals at the 2024 Olympics. And this despite the fact that at the time of the creation of the league, the Indian men’s team in the ranking was in 131st place. By October 2022, the team managed to climb to 59th place (but since 2020, the scoring has changed).
Of course, India is an impressive sports market, in which volleyball can fill its niche. It’s really possible to make money on this sport, but it’s hard to believe that the Indian men’s national team will be able to get at least bronze medals at the upcoming Summer Olympics. If you are a fan of volleyball and want to make money on this sport, then we recommend that you create an account on mostbet account.