All You Want to Know About Revived Hockey India League

• All You Want to Know About Revived Hockey India League

• Hockey India League is being revived after a hiatus of seven years – the league was run for five years (2013-2017) before it was closed down

• Ranchi Rhinos on the inaugural Hockey India League in 2013 – the Ranchi outfit have won the HIL on most occasions – twice (as Ranchi Rays in 2015) with Delhi Waveriders, Jaypee Punjab Warriors, and Kalinga Lancers winning the crown once each

• The revived 6th edition of the Hockey India League would be held from December 28th to February 5th – it is planned to be held during this time period for the next five years

• Unlike the home-and-away concept in the first five editions, the revived Hockey India League would be played at two venues – Rourkela and Ranchi – two hockey hotbeds in the eastern part of the country

• The cash prizes for the winners, runners-up, and third-placed among others are yet to be announced

• The men’s Hockey India League would comprise eight teams, while the women’s Hockey India League would consist of six teams (two teams owners are yet to be unveiled)

• Players’ auction for the Hockey India League would be held at Hyatt Regency, New Delhi for three days – October 13th, 14th, and 15th.

• For the first time ever the Women’s Hockey India League would be held alongside the Men’s Hockey India League

• The men’s matches would be played at Rourkela, while the women’s matches would be played at Ranchi – the organisers have created a provision for men teams to play at least one men’s game in Ranchi and for the women teams to play one game in Rourkela

• The Hockey India League auction would attract top players from as many as fifteen teams minus China

• FIH has created a separate window between December 28 and February 5 – it means no international tournaments or matche would be held during this period

• The Hockey India League women’s final will be held on January 26 at Ranchi. while the Hockey India League men’s final will be played on February 1 at Rourkela

• 675 men hockey players would be part of the HIL auction – the pool of players would feature 500 Indian men players and 175 foreign men players)

• Norms set for the league allow each team to field 24-member squads with at least four juniors and eight foreigners on the roster with only four ‘on-the-pitch’ foreign players at any time

• 275 women hockey players would be part of the HIL auction – the pool of players would feature 200 Indian women players and 75 foreign women players

• The base price for auction is kept at Rs 2 lakh, 5 lakh, and 10 lakh – the purse for the men’s teams is Rs 4 crore, while the purse for the women’s teams is Rs 3 crores sans any individual cap
  
• HIL features teams from the North, East and South but the Western part of the country remains unrepresented with no teams from pockets like Mumbai, Madhya Pradesh, etc

• Every franchise would pay Hockey India Rs 10 crore as team fees every year

• Vedanta Limited has acquired Kalinga Lancers (erstwhile Odisha franchise) – it was  previously co-owned by Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) and Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL)

• JSW Sports spearheaded by Olympian and Asian Games silver medallist Manish Malhotra would own the Punjab men’s team and the Haryana women’s team

• Diversified business entity Charles Group would own the Chennai men’s team

• Olympian and tennis icon Mahesh Bhupathi-led SG Sports would own the Delhi men’s and women teams

• Realtor Group Shrachi Sports would own the West Bengal  men’s and women teams

• Yadu Sports would own the Lucknow  men’s team

• Investment firm Resolute Group would own the Hyderabad men’s team

• Novayom Sports would own the Ranchi men’s team and Odisha women’s teams

• Shrachi Sports and SG Sports are the only two franchises to own both men and women teams of the same region

• SG Sports and JSW Sports are only two hockey franchises to be backed by former Olympians

• It is estimated that Rs 3,640 crore will be spent on the HIL over the next 10 years, with Hockey India expected to invest Rs 112 crore each year