Running a Kabaddi Tournament- The Kabaddi Adda way!

Successfully running any sports event is a function of good event management skills and giving attention to every detail possible. To know what are the elements that are required to run a Kabaddi event (The Kabaddi Adda way) read on!

The most important element in a good Kabaddi tournament is “good Kabaddi”. This can be enabled by

Good Scoring and Display of Scoring
Discover New Players like Pardeep Narwal: Not possible without player stats
Engaging Online Audience (~100 Million users)
- Commentary
- Creating Great Content: Like Match Videos, Live Stream, Highlights, Best Player videos
- Live Score
- Player Stats
Live Streaming and Videos
Awareness of Schedule, Players in Advance for Offline Audience (Online and Offline Marketing)
Honest Refereeing
Promotion of the Tournament- Getting a Good Distribution Partner (like Star TV or Kabaddi Adda)
Sharing of Videos (Open sourcing videos)

This article is split into 8 Parts which we feel will help a tournament organizer to run a smooth and standard tournament.

Good Scoring and Display of Scoring

Problem with Scoring these Days:

Problem with Scoring these Days: Kabaddi scoring today happens at a pen-paper level and lacks a lot of elements which we think is very important to grow the game of Kabaddi, for instance, the current scoring does not account for Raid by Raid data and individual scores which is an important part of the game today. Lack of online presence for a tournament missing out on the 100 Million audiences….

At Kabaddi Adda we use a cool digital scoring tool called ScoreKabad that can be used on any phone, tablet or laptop. This is a data collection tool the digital way and this data can be used in multiple areas and catering to different needs of the Kabaddi ecosystem. The ScoreKabad tool lets you collect Raid by Raid details which in return gives multiple outputs like Match Center on Kabaddi Adda which includes live Raid by Raid commentary, team scores, who scored a point, which players are going out of the mat, bench sequence, Do or Die raids, Super Tackles in an automated way which makes scoring very standardized, less chance of error and can always be used for audit purpose.

This tool can help the Kabaddi ecosystem go digital and stop using pen and paper to score and also it can remove unnecessary resources that are now there to do a job which does not need that many people, for instance, there is one official who is just there to shout do or die when there are two empty raids- The ScoreKabad tool automatically indicates Do or Die when two empty raids are entered. Similarly, two referees manage the bench sequence- the ScoreKabad tool automatically shows which player has to come in next if the sequence is entered correctly.

Discover New Players like Pardeep Narwal : Not possible without player stats

Problem : There is no Pardeep Narwal if Pro Kabaddi did not count and realize that he was the first to reach 400 points, 500 points, 600 points, 700 points, 800 points, 900 points and 1000 points. Who is a better player in 69th Railways Nationals - Rohit Gulia with 123 points or Pawan Sehrawat with 57 points?

Why does player stats help? Strategize for next match, squad selection, discovered by Pro Kabaddi franchises, etc.

From a player point of view, player stats help them know how many points they are scoring in a game, what percentage of time they spend on the mat and bench and also helps them to study the opposition better which will get them prepared for the game in advance. Another aspect that players will value is their stats and player pages on the internet which is a moment of pride for the player and his/her family.

Player Page of Pawan Sehrawat on Kabaddi Adda

Player Stats from a game — Player scores from PKL 7 game between Bengaluru Bulls and Haryana Steelers in mobile view

Player scores Laptop view — Player scores from PKL 7 game between Bengaluru Bulls and Haryana Steelers in laptop/desktop view

Moving ahead if we look at the fans point of view, they will be able to follow games from where they are, not just the leagues but also the ones that happen in tier 2 and tier 3 cities of India, by following we mean that they will be able to see Raid by Raid information, automated written commentary, scores of players and much more, this ensures that people from anywhere can follow tournaments which are happening anywhere in the country.

Engaging Online Audience

Live commentary from a game — Live commentary from Bengaluru Bulls and Haryana Steelers on Kadaddi Adda

From a tournament point of view, popularization of the event is very important, by using the ScokeKabbad tool will get them that result where the tournament reaches a large group of people and people are aware of the event which builds excitement and curiosity. There is nothing like being able to follow a Kabaddi event which is happening anywhere in the country from where you are.

- Creating Great Content: Like Match Videos, Live Stream, Highlights, Best Player videos
- Live Score
- Player Stats
- History of the Tournament

One more element from the tournament point of view is setting the standard for the tournament, ScoreKabad brings standard for a tournament where there is data for every match played at a raid by raid level which makes auditing or going to back to any moment in the game at your fingertips. The data can be available on Kabaddi Adda or it can be made available on the tournament website or any other website so that it gets the reach and people know about the tournament. Having data and going live on the internet brings a standard into the tournament that not all tournaments today have.

In the above instances, there are multiple areas that this tool will help the Kabaddi ecosystem grow and revolutionize the sport.

Live Streaming and Videos

People love to view live sports content on the internet and it always creates a buzz and we personally feel if a tournament needs to go live to get the reach and to gain popularity, there is always excitement when live content is consumed. Live streaming can be done in multiple ways with the use of different software or devices and with the mobile phone clarity getting better and better this makes live streaming more simple and easy where you need not carry heavy equipment. Software like Vimix, OBS is used as a medium to go live by this the tournament is getting great reach and this will change the Kabaddi ecosystem where only niche tournaments get the privilege of live streaming. Our scoring tool also gives out score strip as an output which can be overlaid on the live stream for good viewing experience.

If live-streaming is not possible then comes the other option where you can record videos of all games and post those videos later in the form of full matches, a highlights package, best moments of the game and much more.

We at KabaddiAdda have developed another tool named Scorepyo- this tool does a bunch of things like adding score strip to videos, cuts videos, creates packages of videos like Highlights, best raider, best defender and the best moment of the game. This kind of content is what people would like to see, watching a video without scores is no fun and also all the post video editing work is minimized which saves a lot of time and as the video is recorded and this package can be ready within few hours and can be uploaded online very quickly. We feel the timing of upload plays a key role in getting reach and videos must go out as soon as possible otherwise the relevance is lost.

Awareness of Schedule, Players in Advance for Offline Audience (Online and Offline Marketing)

Player Registrations

All players who are participating in this tournament need to be registered online with their name, jersey number, and team. By doing this we will be able to give out individual scores for all players and also this will create player pages in Kabaddi Adda and stats will keep getting updated as and when they play any tournament that Kabaddi Adda is covering. Having a clean process of player registration with ID and age verification for age group tournament will make a tournament structured and standardized. Without player registrations, the match center cannot go live during a game so this becomes one of the integral parts of any tournament. This process can be carried out during a weighing process which already exists in most of the tournament.

Fixtures

Getting fixtures a few hours before the start of the first game will be essential to going live online and also gives us some time to promote the tournament in all online mediums. Once we get the fixtures from the organizers our team will digitize them and create a tournament page online which can be distributed to all stakeholders of the tournament.

Displaying live score at Venue

Having a live score display at the venue is essential for all sports and Kabaddi is no different, from players to fans to everyone involved in the tournament will need to know what is the score at any given point of time of the tournament. One of the outputs from the tool is a live score display which can be displayed at the venue. This live display not just shows team scores but also shows the number of people in mat and bench, bench sequence, Do or Die raids, which team is raiding and defending, last 5 raids form and raid timer. We feel all these features in a live score display will take the sport to the next level, players, coaches, and fans can get all information by just looking at the screen at any given point of the match.

Honest Refereeing

Honest and Good refereeing is one of the key elements for running a successful tournament as they are ones who control the game. Having a briefing session with them before the tournament is one we can get them aware of what is required from them, for instance, if the tournament is using the ScoreKabad tool then referees play a key role in making to tool work because it is highly dependent on the quality of refereeing and clear calls they make on the mat, so getting the referees aware about the tool and its output becomes important.

Promotion of the Tournament

Social Media today is one of the most powerful media for distributing content and for a Kabaddi tournament, this is one medium where lots of fans expecting to see good quality content. So having a social media content plan becomes a must from an organizer point of view, this again will help the tournament reach to the eager fans. We have split this segment into 3 parts.

Pre Tournament Promotion

This has to begin a few days before a tournament where you will have to create a buzz about the event which is upcoming, it can be in ways or article, fixtures, posts about the players playing, teams participating, information regarding dates of the event and any other information that will build that excitement to follow the upcoming event.

During Tournament Promotion

Once the tournament gets underway there needs to regular images, video clips, infographics, score updates, player updates, upcoming games, article at end of a session/day and any such information that can go out on the social media which will keep the fans engaged and informed about the event.

Post Tournament Promotion

Post tournament promotions are one way of summing up about the event, this can be either through an article or a press release. Additionally, this can also include updating the tournament gallery online, some creatives on best raider, defender and some video clips that can go live on social media will be a perfect finish for the event.

Social media presence will attract people to know about the tournament and help them follow any level of the tournament and that is what the fan always wants 'Access to Kabaddi Content'.

Getting a Good Distribution Partner (like Star TV or Kabaddi Adda)
Sharing of Videos (Open sourcing videos)

Above we highlighted areas that we think are what a perfect tournament needs to have to take the sport to the next level and bring in some structure and standard which will help the sport be recognized nationally and also globally someday in the future. The constant support and love from fans are what push us at Kabaddi Adda to come up with cool ideas to make the sport more accessible and engaging.