India to have an IPL modelled Super League for Yogasana sport soon

Yogasana Bharat, India’s national federation for yogasana sport, is planning to launch Yogasana Super League (YSL), a commercial venture much like the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)’s Indian Premier League (IPL) next month. Yogasana focusses on the ‘asana’ part of Yoga.

Supported by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and recognized by Indian Olympic Association, Yogasana Bharat is the country’s newest sports federation that hosted the first ever World Yogasana Sport Championship organised by the World Yogasana organisation, the International Cricket Council (ICC) equivalent body for yogasana sport. Yogasana Bharat’s vision is to package Yogasana as a sport, where athletes will be judged on the basis of their stability, balance, holding time of asana postures and take India’s 5,000-year-old heritage to the world stage.

In an exclusive interaction with Fortune India, Udit Sheth, President, Yogasana Bharat said the federation’s plan is to have eight city-based YSL franchises in the initial stage.

“We are hoping to announce the establishment of the League very soon. We have been working on this for almost four years. It takes that much time to get the right partners, sponsors, equity holdings, and also to make sure there is no conflict of interest,” Sheth said.

According to Sheth, the League will start off with a valuation of about ₹200 crore and a top line revenue projections for the inaugural season to be close to ₹50 crores. He expects the valuation to touch ₹1,000 crores in the first three years itself. “Some LOIs (letter of intent) are already in place for owning the franchise. I can’t disclose the details now, but there are people ready to buy the teams. They are interested because this League is not just about sports. For the first time in sports, we are talking about sustainability, we are talking about wellness, so all those industries supporting this; AYUSH, nutrition segments etc, finally they have a mouthpiece, where they can come and sell their products as services. This is a unique opportunity for them”, Sheth said.

YSL to have multiple revenue streams

Unlike other sports league franchises, YSL franchises are planned to have multiple revenue opportunities, not just the broadcast revenues. “We will have a business model around it. A studio model where you teach yoga, you have wellness programmes etc”, Sheth said.

He is also confident about the audience response. “You will be glued to the television when they perform. The electronic scoring system, the AR/VR (augmented and virtual reality) for the broadcast, etc is all getting ready. We have roped in Seher Bedi who was among the foundational team that launched MTV in India because we have to appeal to the young people who are not in yoga. We don’t want them to change the channel while watching the programme”.

Sheth said the government support has been phenomenal and said the hosting of World Yogasana Sport Championship has been a founding moment as a global recognition to Yogasana can lead to the sport being included in the Olympics Games just as Chinese martial art Wushu and Korean Taekwondo came to be recognized as an Olympic event. “I am very confident that Yogasana will be India’s contribution to the world of sports”, Sheth said.

World Yogasana is seven years old and there are already 40 registered national federations like Yogasana Bharat around the world. The ministry of youth affairs, the ministry of AYUSH, the ministry of external affairs, they are all working together to expand the footprint to every country. The World Yogasana is also based in India. “ Right now India is running away with the medals in the world championship, but I must tell you that some of the countries, we train them, after two years, you will be very surprised India will not be able to hold on to all the medals. They are very competitive and they are learning very quickly”, Sheth said.

Yogasana Bharat has affiliate associations in 700 districts of the country. Yogasana is already a recognised event in the National Games.