Hey Guys. Kabaddi (Extreme Tag) Needs Our Help To Remain A Relevant Sport
It was close to 2 months ago that we were introduced to the Kabaddi World Cup and it completely took over our lives. Everywhere you went it was Kabaddi this or Kabaddi that or “oh my god, did you see that Kabaddi match last night. Shit was dope”. The game single-handily revolutionized water cooler talk all across the globe. But since the World Cup ended, it appears that Kabaddi has fallen on some tough times.
India.com (pretty sick URL) – World Cup got it focus and the Pro Kabaddi League kept it in the limelight but outside of those few weeks every year, kabaddi completely loses the battle as far as media focus is concerned. And this where they need help and support from its caretakers to make sure there is a constant buzz about the sport to keep it relevant and most importantly, raise its profile. India have all alone put kabaddi on the international map.
It has been a beautiful story that has for long been wanting to be told. Much like India have got tonnes of money in modern cricket and given the sport a facelift, they have done that with kabaddi. India have without any help given an international profile to what was an unknown sport for many. The Pro Kabaddi League is not super duper successful but it has a certain level of following. Now what is required is that the sport takes the next step.
Now I’m not just going to idly sit here watching Kabaddi go by the wayside. That shit can happen to soccer, but not to the beautiful game of Kabaddi. Here’s a quick reminder of how kick ass the sport is.
Again, we see this happen all the time with soccer. The World Cup comes around, everybody catches futbol fever, it hangs around for another few weeks after the tournament and then everybody forgets about the game again until the next World Cup. But we can’t let that happen with Kabaddi. Oh no no no. I don’t know exactly what needs to happen, but we need to give the game more exposure. Does that mean that Barstool needs to launch a whole new vertical dedicated to Kabaddi? Do we need to make the entire Barstool Radio show on Siriux a Kabaddi-centric show? Do we need a Kabaddi Night in America perhaps on NBCSN every Wednesday night or something? Or better yet, how about a Kabaddi color rush? I’m really not sure. Just thinking out loud here but something needs to happen because a world without Kabaddi is not a world that I wish to live in.