ESports "added itself to the list of sports to have a major professional league in India" as the Indian Gaming League is the newest entrant to join "up and coming franchisee-based leagues" in the country, according to Arka Bhattacharya
of the ECONOMIC TIMES.
While eSports or "Electronic Sports" throughout the world have a "robust infrastructural backbone" with a proven financial model, the Indian market "is yet to mature up to the requisite standards." Within the first two weeks of its introduction, the IGL received up to 1,000 competitive entries and "looks to add onto that number." The league, founded by cousins Yash Pariani, 23, and Krish Galani, 20, "will be played both offline and online and the latter will be based on the lines of the Indian Premier League model where there will be six city-based franchises (for eg, Counterstrike Delhi or FIFA Mumbai) for every game featured in the IGL."
The list of games currently being played in the IGL "are FIFA, CounterStrike, Halo, League of Legends, Battlefield, Call of Duty and Defense of the Ancients (DOTA) 2." The league "looks to build onto its list of games as it expands."
The league "is also sponsored by Major League Gaming, which reasons an estimated 20 million fans across its entire network." Its other sponsors are Sony Playstation, Red Bull and Paytm. Yash said that the gaming industry in India is currently worth $500M-$600M and this figure "could increase as the league grows" (ET, 2/14).
