World Series Hockey: Quick Facts
Event
• An unique Hockey League featuring the best hockey players in the world
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Multi city event initially played over a period of 2 and a half months
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Upto 10 teams will participate in Yr1 of the Event
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First event scheduled to be played from November / December 2011 to February 2012
Format
• The Event will be played in a League “Home and Away” format with teams with the best records qualifying for a multi-header playoff
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Each Playoff will be a best of 3 matches, with the winner of two matches being the winner for that playoff
• Each Playoff will be played in a “home and away” format with the benefit of 2 Home matches going to the team with a better record from the League stage
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Upto 100 matches in the first edition including league and playoff matches
Players
• It is expected that over 160 Indian players will be participate in the first event
• Additionally, upto 60 top International hockey players will also participate. The final list of 60 international players will be shortlisted from a current list of 150 of the world’s best players
• Players will be allocated to teams on the basis of a “Draft” modelled around similar systems used in successful Leagues globally. The Draft will work broadly around principles of team selection of players in multiple rounds which each team having a single draft pick in each round
Teams
• Teams will be Franchised
• Franchises will be allocated on criteria which includes financial strength of potential team owner, commitment to development of hockey and committed investment in development of hockey infrastructure in India
League Management
• Event will be managed by a professional team of Tournament executives and a Technical committee which will consist only of former international hockey players
Business Model
• Split of ownership of rights between the League and Teams
• Central rights controlled by the League will include all event sponsorship and media rights
• Team rights will include team sponsorship and ticketing and hospitality at home matches
• A percentage of the Central Revenues will be shared with the teams while the teams will retain all of the revenues generated from Team rights
Media
• All matches of the Event will be produced for LIVE broadcast across multiple media platforms
• It is expected that each match of the event will be broadcast LIVE in India and across at least 10 other countries