Bigger, better, bolder: PVL goes global in brand-new season but 'it's just a start', says Tuhin Mishra

The 2023 edition of the RuPay Prime Volleyball League opened on February 4 with defending champions Kolkata Thunderbolts registering a thrilling win over Bengaluru Torpedoes. The league had arrived as a major boost to the Indian volleyball landscape that had remained largely stagnant due to lack of consistent tournaments. After an impressive first season that drew a cumulative television viewership of 133m, the PVL returns with bigger purposes in the brand-new second edition.

In a massive boost to Indian sporting landscape, it was also confirmed by the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) and its commercial unit Volleyball World that the Men’s Club World Championships will be hosted by India in 2023 and 2024. As Indian volleyball continues to witness rapid growth, we talked to Tuhin Mishra, the co-founder of Baseline Ventures that promotes the PVL.

Excerpts from the conversation…

PVL had a stellar first season. This time, the fans are back and there's another team added in Mumbai Meteors. What are your expectations?

This season has become much bigger for various reasons. Last year, we were doing it at only one venue, which was Hyderabad because of the Covid-19 pandemic. This season, we've got 8 teams, we've got 31 matches. And there are three host cities. We're starting from Bangalore, then we move to Hyderabad and then Cochin for the third phase including the semi-finals and final.

We've got now a new team in Mumbai Meteors. So, the event has become bigger. That is at one level. And at another level is the big tie up with FIVB and its commercial arm, Volleyball World. These matches are going to be broadcast all over the world thanks to that tie-up. And it's a multi-year agreement that we've got into. So, it just makes the league better and few knots higher than what it was last year.

A big development happened earlier this month when FIVB announced that India will host the Volleyball Club World Championships. That must come as a big boost…

That is a huge, huge boost. Because it’s happening for the first time (in India). The silver lining to this is that India will be staging it in 2023 and 2024 and the winning team of the Prime Volleyball League will actually be playing in that Championship, representing India. Our boys will be playing against some of the best volleyball players from Brazil, Italy… from around the world. It's almost like the Champions League in football where the top clubs are playing.

In India, never in any global sport, it has ever happened that the top clubs at any given point of time play on home soil. If you look at the whole landscape that we are operating in, it’s at a completely different level.

You had said the development will help India qualify for the 2028 Olympics. How closer we are to that goal?

Prime Volleyball League is exactly the platform that we are trying to build for it. It is going to give that exposure to the players. The Indian players are now going to be seen by all volleyball fans across the world. The coaches, the scouts will look for our players to play in different volleyball leagues. They now have the best chance. I personally know this because I've been interacting so much with the foreign players and coaches.

David Lee, who's a two-time Olympic medallist, told me that in the current lot, there are at least 8-to-9 players who can easily play any top volleyball league around the world. They are of that good quality. PVL is giving youngsters an opportunity to rub shoulders with top players and top coaches. That’s priceless. That is what we want.

You see what the IPL (Indian Premier League) has done. It has given us so many players. Our cricketing setup has a bench strength so good that we can easily form two teams that can defeat any other team in the world. That is what PVL is looking to do as well. We want to create a robust basket of at least 25-to-30 players who can serve the nation for the next, say, 10 to 15 years. And this is how things are going to progress.

At the end of the day, this is a start. And the whole idea is to actually qualify in the next five-to-six years. The mission is to become the top team in Asia, which is easily possible. There's no two ways about it. And then the goal is obviously to qualify for the Olympics. This is the route forward.

There’s an added team in the league. Will the next step be to further stretch the season, let’s say, for three-to-four months?

It is all functional. It's a good question but we need to make a start first. There is no point in trying to do something where it can all fall down like a pack of cards. We also need to see how economically viable it is going to be. You just don't want do it for the heck of it. Principally, it sounds very good. But this is all been done by private money. If we are able to raise more money and support from various authorities, why not? We can look at doing that as well. But again, we want to take small steps first, get things right, and then look for the bigger picture.

A privately-funded league is a fairly new concept in this country. How big of a challenge was to come up with such a league in India?

See, you don’t rely only on government banks for your financials. You don’t use only government-owned cell phone networks, right? When all of these things can happen with private institutions, why does sport have to be totally government-controlled? We all talk about public-private participation. That is the model.

This is what’s happening globally too. Does the US basketball have anything to do with NBA? It is privately-owned. And NBA is one of the biggest brands in sports. They have done it very professionally.

As long as you are doing something that’s legal and adheres to the rules of the land, people should embrace it with open arms. We are not competing against anyone. We are trying to create a system where things fall in place and people are able to evolve, and go to bigger heights. Democracy is not purely about the right to vote. No, democracy is in everything.

So PVL could be a pathbreaker in Indian sports…

200%. I think PVL is a pathbreaker already. We are trying to build a business model that is sustainable, and it’s unique because the team owners are also owners of the league.

So, the decisions are taken at a league level where everyone is involved, everyone is contributing, everyone is trying to bring the best practices to the table. And we feel that we can create a roadmap for others to take inspiration from that.

There’s an expansion with eight teams in the league, but there’s no representation from North India yet…

The next team which will come on board – whether it is in the next year or two years – will definitely be from North India. We've already got a lot of people approaching us for that. And they're willing to pay any kind of price to be a part of it. Obviously, we are being careful in terms of who we take on board because we want people who are completely invested in it, and people who can help support our cause.

Is women’s league a part of the plans?

We are totally looking into that. A roadmap is being created for that. We are doing a lot of groundwork and we will announce it at the right time. It’s definitely on our radar. We're seriously looking into it.

It was reported that national championships and Federation Cup will clash with the PVL. Is that an issue for the league?

Not at all. As a matter of fact, we know that the current federation is non-existent. There are two groups who claim to be the right federation. None of them are recognized by IOA or the sports ministry. That’s where first thing. Secondly, even if one of the groups is calling for the nationals, that is illegal. Even the certificates are not valid. There are government circulars that after 2020, any certificate given by the federation isn’t valid for any job. So that probably answers your question. All the top players are playing here. They are not even bothered about it.

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