Structured like a conventional sports activities league, with no betting, wagering, or entry charges, the Amit Burman-backed franchise event has turned worthwhile in its sixth season and is now aiming to achieve ₹50 crore in income by FY29, in line with Thoughts Sports activities League (MSL).
In FY23, the corporate’s income was ₹1.67 crore, which rose to ₹3.41 crore in FY24 and ₹7.03 crore in FY25.
Broadcast dwell on JioHotstar, the league has grown over 15 instances in viewership within the final three seasons, from 1.2 million in season 4 to 22.6 million in season 6, as per high officers of the league.
Participation numbers have additionally seen an enormous surge, leaping from 2,200 to over 22,000 distinctive gamers, with season 7 anticipated to cross 30,000.
PSL’s team-based construction, qualification mannequin, and branding technique have helped it keep away from the controversial real-money gaming ecosystem. The 28% items and providers tax (GST) on on-line gaming, levied on the total face worth of deposits, usually with retrospective impact, has crippled many real-money gaming platforms, triggered large tax calls for, and deterred investor curiosity, making PSL’s non-real-money gaming mannequin an exception in an in any other case embattled sector.
“We’re maybe the one league fully unaffected by GST rulings as a result of we’re not staking cash at any stage. Our gamers play at no cost, and our league capabilities identical to another sport,” stated Bagai.
PSL follows a hybrid format: gamers undergo a free-to-play qualification system to earn a slot in one of many eight franchise groups, every consisting of 11 members, together with six professionals, 5 qualifiers, and now, one non-poker influencer. Matches are cut up throughout digital and on-ground rounds, culminating in a televised finale in Goa.
“We’ve managed to construct PSL as a sustainable, scalable IP by staying brand-safe and agnostic to real-money gaming,” stated Pranav Bagai, co-founder and CEO of Thoughts Sports activities League Pvt. Ltd (MSL), which owns the league.
“In contrast to most gaming codecs that depend on betting, our gamers are paid salaries, groups compete for factors, and winnings come from our prize pool. That offers us the flexibility to accomplice with high OTTs and types with out regulatory friction.”
This positioning has proved profitable. Title sponsorship alone has grown from ₹40 lakh in season 4 to ₹4 crore in season 7—a 10x leap. The league is now partnered with PokerBaazi, JioHotstar and Novotel as title sponsor, broadcast accomplice and hospitality accomplice, respectively. Prize cash for season 7 is ₹2.5 crore, whereas the participant public sale purse per workforce stands at ₹32.5 lakh.Â
The working bills of working a workforce stands between ₹65 lakh and ₹1 crore per season. The prize pool, nonetheless, has gone up from ₹1.2 crore in season 4 to ₹2.5 crore now.
In line with co-founder and COO Prajit Ghambir, PSL broke even in season 6 and is on observe to ship higher income within the present season. “Most leagues take 10–15 years to show worthwhile, however we’ve already reached a stage the place our high three groups are within the inexperienced. By season 10, we anticipate most workforce homeowners to be worthwhile,” he advised Mint. Poker Sports activities League was launched in Might 2017.
“From working on a ship in our early years, we now host matches in five-star lodge banquet halls with full regulatory permissions, including legitimacy and accessibility to the sport.”
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Capped workforce mannequin
MSL, the mum or dad firm, additionally owns MSL Studioz, a B2B dwell manufacturing arm servicing main poker tournaments throughout India, Southeast Asia, and the APPT (Asia Pacific Poker Tour) occasions for PokerStars.
MSL’s shareholding is led by co-founders Bagai, Ghambir and household and mates, who collectively personal round 39%. Amit Burman, former chairman of Dabur India Ltd, owns roughly 21% in his private capability, whereas Mehul Shah, the unique promoter of Anchor Electricals and now a workforce proprietor within the league, owns 20% within the league.
The league follows a capped-team mannequin, seven groups competed final season, the eighth is being finalised, and a ninth and remaining workforce can be launched in season 9. “We need to guarantee provide of franchises stays restricted whereas demand retains rising. That offers early workforce homeowners the chance to construct valuation and even exit sooner or later,” stated Ghambir.
PSL’s workforce homeowners immediately embody seasoned enterprise operators reasonably than poker fans, a shift that underscores its business maturity. As an illustration, Lucknow Kings is co-owned by Samit Garg, who runs the listed firm E Issue Experiences, whereas the Bengaluru All Stars are owned by Kankanala Sports activities Group, which additionally has groups in volleyball, handball, and racing.
The league’s working mannequin additionally allows it to keep up value self-discipline. Proudly owning its personal manufacturing capabilities retains broadcast bills in verify. Participant salaries stay within the low lakhs per season, with qualifiers incomes between ₹1 lakh and ₹3.5 lakh and captains round ₹5–6 lakh.
“We management all the present move on JioHotstar, together with advert stock, which makes sponsorship extra priceless,” stated Bagai. “Even with carriage charges, we’re in a position to run a lean and worthwhile operation.”
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Key Takeaways
- PSL’s non-real-money gaming mannequin permits it to keep away from regulatory points and GST burdens.
- The league’s progressive construction promotes participant engagement and sponsorship alternatives.
- Future plans embody geographic enlargement and a dwell poker carnival to boost viewer expertise.
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Trying forward
Going ahead, the league plans to scale each geographically and by way of content material. Future seasons will characteristic one obligatory influencer per workforce to spice up visibility and sponsorship, in addition to worldwide poker professionals to drive cross-border enchantment and OTT syndication. An entire on-ground “poker carnival” can be within the works, changing digital matches with a 10-day dwell format that mimics the texture of conventional sports activities leagues.
With JioHotstar now internet hosting all PSL content material freed from cost to viewers, with adverts stitched into on-demand movies for 12 months, the league is positioning itself as a long-tail, performance-driven platform for manufacturers as properly.
“We’re not simply constructing a poker league—we’re constructing the infrastructure of Indian poker,” Bagai stated. That features visibility, participant improvement and monetisation, he added.
