In a recent exclusive interview, we had the opportunity to speak with the head of contact sports at Capri Sports, Apurv Gupta.

After graduating in economics, Gupta opted to pursue a career in sports due to his love of this sphere. 

During our conversation, we had the chance to dive into the development of niche sports like Kabaddi and Kho-Kho along with a focus on sponsorships. 

Having previously worked in the setting up the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), a competition that has grown year-on-year in India, Gupta said about the league:

“Kabaddi is a very fascinating case study. I was fortunate enough to be on the league side when the sport launched. I was with Star at the time. It was launched at a time when Indian sports was on a growth trajectory.

“It’s a sport that was thought very well. What people didn’t realise was how widespread the sport already was in parts of India. It was massively played.”

Continuing about why the league was successful, he added:

“It had the characteristics. The actions or the comebacks you want in a sport. And then obviously Star put its magic through the lenses and story-telling, which I think appealed.”

While admitting that Kabaddi had a wide diaspora in urban and rural cities of India, Gupta was particularly impressed by the number of children taking to the sport.

In contrast, Ultimate Kho Kho is fairly new, with the league starting as recently as 2022 as compared to the PKL, which was founded in 2014.

“It’s been a very positive impact from the league’s perspective. We had about 190 million digital engagements between social and online viewing. These are impressive numbers, these are not small numbers. But the aim is to grow it much bigger,“ Gupta said about Ultimate Kho Kho.

On the sponsorship side of things, Gupta admitted that it would take time to hit the targets as far as Kho Kho was concerned. However, he was clear that sponsorship deals would be signed, keeping in mind the brands fit at that point in time. 

We also delved into the importance of building relationships between franchises and their players. Opening up about how Capri Sports has helped its own talent, he said:

“Simple things, just helping players understand what options are open to them. Can we help them train in of-season and just being there for them now, providing the facilities and support that is required.”

Watch our full interview with Apurv Gupta here: