Prime Volleyball League will be ‘pathbreaking idea for Indian sport’, says CEO Joy Bhattacharjya-Sports News , Firstpost

Joy Bhattacharjya (left, sitting), CEO of Prime Volleyball League, along with owners of the six franchises, and Baseline Ventures’ Tuhim Mishra (right, sitting). Image courtesy: Twitter/@joybhattacharj

Can a sports league in India function without any involvement of the national federation responsible for that sport?

The Prime Volleyball League, which is slated to begin later this year, is hoping to pull off precisely that in what could be a pathbreaking development for the way sports leagues in India are organised.

“For Indian sport, this is a pathbreaking concept,” said Joy Bhattacharjya, who is the CEO of PVL. “I believe this will be an empowering idea for volleyball in this country. Not just volleyball, sport in this country. Once, people understand that private enterprise also works, it will empower other sports.”

The Prime Volleyball League is an endeavour of Baseline Ventures, which, in 2019, had partnered with the Volleyball Federation of India to start a league, called Pro Volleyball League. The upcoming edition, besides being rechristened, will also be without the involvement of the VFI.

In a Twitter thread on Wednesday, Bhattacharjya narrated an example of just how the 2019 edition of Pro Volleyball League was nearly derailed over the vanity of a federation official, whom Bhattacharjya did not name.

.. and was stopped by the security and asked to show his badge. He was furious that the security man did not know who he was and wanted the entire tournament to be stopped because of that. 6 teams, the hopes and aspirations of all the players, because an official who..

— Joy Bhattacharjya (@joybhattacharj) September 15, 2021

It’s a journey we hope will start that transformation in Indian sport that we’re all dreaming about. Support rather than control, more opportunities, both national and international, and more money and visibility in the game.
It’s going to be one hell of a ride. Wish us luck!

— Joy Bhattacharjya (@joybhattacharj) September 15, 2021

 Despite the absence of the federation, the league will see five of the six franchise owners showing faith in the idea by returning for the tweaked concept. The league has also roped in Sony Pictures Networks as the broadcast partner. Bhattacharjya points out that PVL will be based on the NBA model, where franchise owners have a lot of say in how the league is run. The fact that the federation is not involved also reduces the risk of volatility based on the whims and egos of office-bearers.

“As opposed to every sports league in India, in PVL, the team owners are also stakeholders in the league. So, they have an investment in the long-term future. This is a step forward. In most leagues, barring cricket and to a certain extent football, the problem is that if there’s a change (at the top) of the federation or the federation itself changes, the new people coming in want to do something new. Immediately, the entire dynamic changes. As franchise owners, you cannot make money in the first few years in an Indian league. Maybe you will in five years. So how can someone invest in a league for five years when they think that tomorrow if the federation changes all of this will go to hell,” he said.

Did the absence of the VFI make it difficult for Baseline Ventures to convince owners to come on board for another season?

“In fact, the owners looked at it the other way round. They were happy the federation is not involved as there would be no nasty surprises. Can’t be told one day that the league is over. Here the league is in their hand! Tomorrow, even if Joy Bhattacharya tries to do something, they can remove him by coming together as a board. They’re stakeholders of their own future. That’s what every investor looks for,” he said.

The sport of volleyball has seen many stop-start attempts to have a league since 2011, including 2016—where in the space of three days, two leagues, each backed by a different faction in the VFI, were announced.

The Prime Volleyball League might be the boldest attempt yet, but what happens should the VFI try to start their own league to scupper the PVL?

“We’ll be very happy if they tried to do a volleyball league. I’d be happy for the players. If there are two leagues fighting for their attention, it’ll just be good for Indian volleyball. But nothing in the federation’s past history has indicated that VFI is capable of doing this.

“But before they try to start a league, they’ll have to pay damages of around Rs 6 crore to Baseline Sport. When they cancelled the last league, there was a court arbitration where it was announced last year that the volleyball federation must pay damages to Baseline for illegally cancelling the league.”

The final—and arguably the most crucial—piece of the league is yet to be finalised: the players.

With the federation not being involved, will players risk participating in a private league, since the federation could deem them ineligible for selection for the national team or even Nationals?

“Legally nobody can stop any player from playing in any league. There’s something called restraint of trade. There’s no way any player can be stopped from playing in our league,” he said, before going on to concede, “Yes, players might think if we play here, will we get picked for India? But you need to see how much volleyball players have suffered in India over the years. So, we’re confident we will get the best of Indian talent.”

The PVL opened a player registration portal on Wednesday, with Bhattacharjya saying that foreign players such as David Lee and Paul Lotman will be among the players to return for another season after featuring in the 2019 edition.

“You’ll get some terrific volleyball action that you got in 2019,” promised Bhattacharya.