The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) is not averse to foreign entities buying stakes in the franchise-based Shooting League of India, said its president Kalikesh Singh Deo following a meeting of the federation to take key decisions on the event. (More Sports News)
The inaugural edition of the league is scheduled later this year.
The International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF), the global governing body for the sport, has officially allotted a November-December window for SLI and the event is set to be organised from November 20 to December 2.
A total of 6-8 city-based franchises will own the teams and bid for players via an auction. Each team will consist of 12 athletes (6 men, 6 women), including up to four foreign players (two men, two women).
"We have started conversation with (prospective) franchises. But I don't see the reason why a foreign franchise would be interested; that they can't have a stake, given of course subject to any conditions in the law of the land," said Singh Deo following the NRAI governing council meeting on Saturday.
Despite India boasting of nearly one lakh registered shooters and accounting for about 50 per cent of the medals the country wins internationally, shooting continues to be a sport with low spectator footfall and viewership, even in the premier arenas like the Karni Singh Ranges here.
Singh Deo acknowledged that getting mass audience continues to be a "challenge" and SLI will bring in equipment and technology to make the sport more exciting.
"Certainly, it is actually one of the biggest challenges for the league, for shooting sport as a whole. In fact, even the ISSF and NRAI have been thinking about how to make shooting more viewer-friendly.
"So, one of course is the kind of equipment and technology we use that we can make the sport more exciting. We have 95,000 registered shooters. And, of course, eSports, which has become a major thing in India, is also a major platform where shooting is, in one way or the other, attractive.
"So we plan to use a variety of platforms, social media, and also maybe bringing some innovative gaming technologies, whereby we can actually reach out to a wider audience, and make sure that we popularise the sport of shooting across the spectrum," said Singh Deo about SLI, which will be based on the mixed team format.
The six events that will be part of the curriculum are: Pistol -- 10m, 25m; Rifle -- 10m and 50m 3P and Shotgun -- trap & skeet.
He added that the NRAI would be investing heavily in the league and develop it as a "role model for shooting across the next 5 to 10 years." "So, we hope that as the league goes on, the players and the franchises will be able to benefit from it from a sports perspective, from a visibility perspective as well as financially," he said.
In it's inaugural year, SLI will be organised at just one venue and not at multiple venues or home-and-away basis because of the cost factor.
"Because you would want to keep the cost low, and we want to make sure that the first event itself is successful, we're starting off as a single venue league, but as time progresses, and demand increases, and we find that there is both financial, as well as viewership interest, and financial viability in going across to other cities, we're happy to do that (have multiple venues).
"Delhi (Karni Singh Range) is the most preferred location, both from logistics perspective, as well as from the feedback we've got from potential franchises," he added.
He clarified that SLI will be a separate entity and not be a part of the national ranking system to shortlist the teams for international competitions.
"No, this is not one of the ranking or designated ranking tournaments," he said.
Singh Deo said each team will have a specified number of international, homegrown and young shooters.
"The league will allow the best of the world to be a part of the same team as the best of our country and the best of our young rising shooting stars, that means the juniors. So, the format encompasses all of them."
While not disclosing the prize fund, he added that it would make SLI attractive for the best in the business across the world.
"The whole purpose of envisioning a league like this is to ensure that we bring commercial support to the shooting fraternity. It is important that the entire ecosystem gets financial support and becomes self-sustaining, so it is with that view the league has been formed.
"The prize money will be significantly more attractive than anything else that the shooters would get in other shooting formats."
He added that the competition format will not be a long-drawn thing with each match not lasting more than 20-25 minutes, which means there will be no qualification rounds as is the norm in all global competitions.
"So every match is only a 16-pointer affair, which is the usual thing in the finals in shooting with both men and women competing.
"There won't be any qualifications; it will only be the finals. That has been the recommendation (of the governing body)."
He added that a majority of the money earned would be re-invested in the league itself, "which means that the players get paid better, the prize money is higher and gets bigger every time."
