The Poker Sports League (PSL) which launched in India this year was well received and the organizers had confirmed that the PSL will go ahead with Season 2. Now they have decided to take things a step further and announced that the PSL Season 2 will be broadcasted on television in India.
The PSL confirmed that the 10 franchises have transitioned from season 1 to season 2 and signed with the league for the next eight years and made a commitment to invest $22 million into the league.
According to PSL co-founder & CEO Mr. Pranav Bagai, two of the franchises would be open to bidding for new players in order to give poker players across India an opportunity to participate in the PSL.
Poker Sports League
The PSL commercial model for season 2 was crafted in a way that franchisees will see an instant break even and a potential for growth with little effort. Each eight-year franchise costs INR 9 crores (US $1.38 million). Payment for the franchises follows a yearly structure and initial payment is as low as INR 57.5 lakhs (US$88,000). Also included in the fees for franchisees are the players’ salaries at INR 14 lakhs (US$21,400).
Each team is composed of one mentor, one captain, two pro-players, two from free live qualifiers, two from free online qualifiers, and two wild-card entries. This set-up aims to give poker enthusiasts, both amateurs and professionals, to co-exist and learn from each other. Online and live qualifiers will start to roll out in December, leading to the final team selection happening in April 2018. The final teams will then be battling it out for the prize pool of INR 3.6 crores (US$551,000) in Goa, India by May 2018.
The PSL confirmed that it will once again live stream during Season 2 but plans are also in place to broadcast the tournament on television to reach a broader audience. PSL announced that it has increased its budget for league marketing, media activation and fan events and will finalize its media partner soon.
The anticipation for PSL season 2 comes from the huge success of season 1, where the Delhi Panthers, owned by Rishi Kajaria of Kajaria Ceramics emerged as champions. The team took home a prize of INR 1.5 crores (US$230,000).
One of the main reasons the PSL decided to broadcast season 2 on television was due to the fact that season 1 receive a lot of online attention. Season 1 live streaming registered 4.5 million views on Facebook and out of this 1.28 million views were recorded for the PSL Final Table, which is 10 percent more than the views WSOP 2015’s Main Even Final Table got on ESPN.
