The Pro Panja League is set to return for its second season on 5 August, with daily broadcasts scheduled on Sony Sports Ten 3 channels and streaming on Fancode.

Following an IPL-style format with franchises competing for the title over 17 days, the league is being held in Gwalior. 

Ahead of the tournament, Manifest caught up with the founders Preeti Jhangiani and Parvin Dabas to discuss PPL’s journey, what to expect in the upcoming season, marketing strategies, future plans for the league, and more. 

Jhangiani said, “We've always had combat sports being played in our house. Parvin is a huge combat sports fan, be it UFC or MMA fights. My son trains in MMA, jiu-jitsu and boxing. So, combat sports have always been big in our house, and all of us got interested in it. When we decided that we wanted to get into sports in some way, we wanted to get into the promotion of it.”

With over 180 players in the league, the sport saw over 32 million unique views on Sony Sports.

“The idea of doing Panja out of all the combat sports was that it’s a sport that’s easily understood. We have male, female and specially abled, all on the same table, and it can be adapted anywhere. One can place the Panja table anywhere - on a casino board in Goa, on a tourist spot in Bhopal lake, or on the banks of the Chambal river or Narmada river. Through this, one can even combine tourism with sports. So, the scope for this sport is immense,” noted Jhangiani.

PPL rolled out a campaign, ‘#LagaPanja’, which has crossed 275 million views.

Talking about the campaign, Jhangiani asserted, “The promo ignites a kind of passion and patriotism as well because it is a sport that has an Indian ethos; everybody relates to it and feels that they can be a Panja player or can get on the table. That was our thought for #LagaPanja, and it doesn't require so much equipment or great big funds.”

Dabas outlined the aspects that set the league apart from others. 

“What we've done differently than a lot of other people is we've not just come out with the league straight. First, we did various tournaments across the country, developed the sport and learned how to bring the sport to broadcast,” he explained. 

Highlighting the importance of social media, Dabas said, “The three to four years before Season One were about preparing for broadcast; figuring out how to shoot the sport, adjust the rules, and help athletes express themselves. We started just weeks before the lockdown, and during that time, we ran webinars to help athletes grow on social media. Many started with just a few thousand followers, but now one of them has crossed four million. When they didn’t know what to do, I’d push them by saying, ‘Tu push-up maarta hai na, 10 push-up maar aur uska video bana ke daal, shuruaat kar!’. Now, these guys have exploded.”

Discussing what lies ahead for the league, Dabas stated, "I think this sport is going to have very long legs and it is going to grow huge. We have a few things in the pipeline which we are going to implement step by step."

Catch the full interview with Dabas and Jhangiani in the August issue of Manifest. Pre-order it here.