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Pro Kabaddi Has Sponsors—but Franchise Deals Still Depend on Timing

Pro Kabaddi’s popularity has drawn sponsor activity, but it does not guarantee every franchise has filled its inventory. Here is what the public evidence shows—and what remains unknown.
From TheFinanceBase Team4 min to read
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Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) franchises are not broadly without sponsors. The more accurate picture is that sponsor activity varies by team and timing: in 2024, some franchises had established partners and expected sponsorship growth, while Gujarat Giants and Bengal Warriorz were still looking to add partners closer to the Season 11 start. League popularity can attract attention, but it does not guarantee that every team has filled its sponsor inventory or disclose how much a franchise earns.

Why the headline needs a qualification

PKL began in 2014 and has 12 teams, according to the league’s official team list. The league’s official history records Dabang Delhi K.C. beating Puneri Paltan in the Season 12 final in 2025 (About Pro Kabaddi).

That scale and visibility are different from a complete sponsor roster for each franchise. The league site displays league-level partners, including Shriram Finance as an associate partner; those labels do not establish which brands sponsor each team. Franchise partnerships are separate commercial relationships, and public examples do not reveal every deal, its value, or whether a team has sold all available inventory.

What the reported franchise examples show

In an August 23, 2024 report, The Economic Times described both existing partnerships and efforts to attract more sponsors for Season 11. The examples point to active sales pipelines, not to a league-wide absence of sponsors.

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Franchise or group What was reported How to interpret it
Haryana Steelers CEO Divyanshu Singh forecast 12–15% sponsorship-revenue growth for Season 11 versus Season 10. The report named multi-year partnerships with Puma, Dafa News, and 8 PM. A 2024 executive forecast, not an audited result or a current forecast.
Gujarat Giants An Adani Sportsline spokesperson said the team was confident of onboarding a significant set of sponsors “in due course of time.” Indicates a plan to add partners nearer the Season 11 start; it does not mean the team had no sponsors.
Bengal Warriorz The report said the Capri Global-owned franchise hoped to onboard a large number of sponsors closer to the Season 11 start. A dated account of sponsorship timing, not a current count or proof of unfilled inventory today.

The report also identified lower entry costs than the IPL and growing audience reach as part of the sponsorship-growth case. Those are possible reasons for brand interest, not proof that reach converts into a specific franchise’s sponsorship revenue. (The Economic Times, August 23, 2024.)

Visibility is not the same as sponsor revenue

The Economic Times reported PKL television reach of 189 million in Season 8, 222 million in Season 9, and 245 million in Season 10. These are season-specific reach figures as reported by that outlet; they do not tell readers what an individual team received from sponsors, whether a deal was renewed, or how profitable a franchise was.

Similarly, the league’s Season 12 auction retrospective says 121 players were acquired for a combined ₹37.90 crore across two auction days in 2025. That figure describes player-auction spending, not franchise sponsorship receipts (PKL Season 12 auction summary).

Do fans notice sponsors?

YouGov’s January 2024 report on PKL fans offers evidence of sponsor awareness, but not sales conversion. Its analysis used YouGov Profiles data as of December 18, 2023. The defined group was urban Indians who identified PKL among their top interests, with a stated sample size of 5,557—not a representative measure of every Indian viewer.

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Finding among the defined PKL-fan sample What it measures
66% said they take notice of who sponsors the sporting events they watch. Reported sponsor awareness.
66% said they like brands that stick to sponsoring one team. Reported attitude toward team continuity.
79% said they had visited a sponsor’s social-media profile. Reported profile visits, not purchases.
58% said sports sponsors sometimes do not make sense. Reported skepticism about sponsor fit.

These responses suggest that sponsorship can be visible to engaged fans and that brand-team fit may matter. They do not establish that fans bought a product, that sponsors achieved a return, or that a franchise can command a particular deal value. (YouGov, Game changer: India’s Pro Kabaddi League Fans Report.)

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Examples of team-level partnerships

Published examples confirm that brands have associated with individual franchises, but they are not a complete or current league-wide sponsor list. KPMG India’s 2025 sports-business report identifies DOLO, a Micro Labs over-the-counter brand, as UP Yoddhas’ official pain-relief sponsor. KEI Industries’ March 2025 corporate presentation lists jersey sponsorships with Tamil Thalaivas and Patna Pirates.

Neither source establishes deal value, duration, exclusivity, or the full set of partners for those teams. KPMG also reports that India’s sports-sponsorship market was valued at ₹16,633 crore in 2024; that is a broad market figure, not a PKL-specific total. (KPMG India, Sportlight: The business of sports in India; KEI Industries, Corporate Presentation, March 2025.)

What is not publicly established

The cited material does not provide a comparable current 2026 breakdown of sponsorship revenue, sponsor counts, unsold inventory, or deal rates for all 12 franchises. It therefore cannot answer precisely how much each team earns from sponsorships or which teams are currently still seeking partners. Historical forecasts, audience-reach totals, and examples of named deals should not be used as substitutes for those missing franchise-level figures.

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