Amartya Smaran
Abhishek Reddy Kankanala describes himself as a serial entrepreneur, digital anthropologist, and compulsive risk taker. The young innovator is the principal owner/co-owner of a plethora of professional sports teams across multiple leagues, such as the Premier Badminton League’s Bengaluru Raptors, the Prime Volleyball League’s Hyderabad Black Hawks, and the National Boxing League’s Bengaluru Brawlers.
With the Hyderabad Black Hawks performing extremely well in the ongoing Prime Volleyball League Season 2, the founders hope that league will amass a staggering 250 million cumulative viewership by the end of this year.The Pioneer connected with Abhishek Reddy a day after his team (HBH) recorded a thrilling victory over the Kochi Blue Spikers at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad.
“I’m a curious sportsperson by nature,” started Abhishek when talking about his journey into the world of sports. “I pretty much play every sport out there, from curling to soccer to badminton to basketball. Also, I must have snowboarded about 500 times. I would like to play every sport to understand how the dynamics work in that sport.”
The young entrepreneur first got an opportunity to be a part of the Bengaluru Raptors, a strong team in the Premier Badminton League. “I picked the team up from Sachin Tendulkar and a team of people, including Nimmagadda Prasad. We won both seasons that I was involved in. We were trying to look at what was required to get the fans to start following something. With COVID and everything, we are looking forward to revamping the league,” shared the sports enthusiast.
After the Pro Volleyball League spiralled into legal issues, Abhishek and other like-minded individuals joined hands to start the Prime Volleyball League. “It is a private league, but it has an affiliation with the FIVB (Fédération Internationale de Volleyball ). “We’re specifically focused on the sport itself and providing opportunities for kids,” said the Hyderabad Black Hawks’ principal owner.
Sharing his vision of making Prime Volleyball League a global phenomenon, Abhishek enthused, “By the end of the season, we will be the largest-viewed volleyball league in the world. It’s a huge achievement because we’ve got leagues that have been around for the last 50–60 years globally. Now we are confident that we can compete with the world.
People here watch the NBA and other leagues because of the high quality of the sport. What if we could do something similar where the world was watching us instead of our children looking outward? We could establish that connection here as well.”
“My single most important vision is to get an alternative to cricket,” reiterated Bengaluru Raptor’s co-owner. “I personally love cricket, but the moment we see it day in and day out, a sort of fatigue sets in. India needs multiple sports to be proud of. Why not have what we have with cricket in other sports? A lot of kids in India play volleyball. It’s easy to pick up the sport to play at a level where it’s entertaining enough.
It’s a spectacle to watch someone jump 12 feet in the air to hit the ball and come down. People usually say India doesn’t have the talent or the height to play volleyball. With 1.4 billion people, we have extremely tall and athletic people. Volleyball is not just for tall people, you’ve got to be athletic. Anand from the Hyderabad Black Hawks is 5’6” and he’s a libero. So, this sport has an opportunity for everybody. Apart from cricket, India requires another sport.And we feel that volleyball is a good platform to give that alternative.”
Actor Vijay Devarakonda, a household name in Telugu states, recently became a co-owner of the Hyderabad Black Hawks. “We were certain that the brand ambassador had to be a co-owner,” Abhishek said of his relationship with the star. “We wanted someone who was invested in it, not just from a business standpoint, but also from the standpoint of fan engagement. Vijay Devarakonda was a perfect fit because he understands the sport.
This takes the message to so many people in the country because Vijay has a national following. He is an amazing guy. It’s nice to work with someone who understands the business as well as the perspective of fans.”
Ending on an ambitious note, the Co-owner of the Bengaluru Brawlers shared, “Globally, we’ve got about 200 countries participating in FIVB, and we’re ranked 75 in the world. There’s a huge room for us to get to the top 3 or top 5. It’s our personal goal to get to the top 5. It will only happen when our country does well.For that to happen, we need to continue getting international coaches and training.That’s what I am going to be working on for the next year. Within a few years, things will catch up with the right support from the government.”
