KOCHI:
Kerala Tourism is all set to host the country’s first-ever boat racing patterned on the IPL format of cricket, as the Champions Boat League (CBL) beginning this weekend will have nine teams vying for top honours and prize monies totalling Rs 5.9 crore at the three-month event scheduled across the state.
Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar will be the star presence at the championship’s opening leg that will be flagged off by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at the sprawling Punnamada Lake in Alappuzha, 50 km south of this city. The boat league, with eleven more races staggered over the intervening weekends, will conclude in Kollam on November 01 (Kerala’s Formation Day) alongside the famed Nehru Trophy Boat Race.
Conceived as an annual global spectacle, the ticketed snake-boat races being held from 2 pm to 5 pm will be broadcast live. Star Sports 2, Star Sports 2 HD, Star Sports 1 Tamil, Asianet Worldwide, Asianet Plus, Hotstar, ETV Andhra Pradesh and ETV Telangana will beam the event for an hour from 4 pm.
Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran said the CBL is a game-changing initiative that will professionalise the largely scattered snake-boat races by commercialising them while keeping intact the conventional spirit.
The CBL (www.championsboatleague.in) will also be a fascinating tourism product with enormous potential to attract visitors from far and wide during Kerala’s monsoon season from early June to late October, he noted. “Apart from creating a breathtaking new visual experience for the visitors in Kerala’s panoramic backwaters, it will also benefit local communities, given its focus on social aspects,” the minister added.
The opening race this Saturday (August 10) coincides with the famed Nehru Trophy Boat Race at the same venue, while the final will overlap with the equally illustrious President’s Trophy Boat Race.
The participating teams are Tropical Titans (traditionally, Village Boat Club), Backwater Knights (Village Boat Club), Backwater Ninja (Brothers Boat Club), Backwater Warriors (Town Boat Club), Coast Dominators (United Boat Club), Mighty Oars (NCDC), Pride Chasers (Vembanad Boat Club), Raging Rowers (Police Boat Club) and Thunder Oars (KBC/SFBC).
The next round of the league (Aug 17) will also be in Alappuzha, but at a different venue: Pulinkunnu. That will be followed by races in Thazhathangadi (Kottayam district, Aug 24), Piravam (Ernakulam district, Aug 31), Marine Drive (Kochi, Sept 7), Kottappuram (Thrissur district, Sept 21), Ponnani (Malappuram, Sept 28), Kainakari (Alappuzha, Oct 5), Karuvatta (Alappuzha, Oct 12), Kayamkulam (Alappuzha, Oct 19) and Kallada (Kollam, Oct 26).
The final will be held at the scenic Ashtamudi Lake in Kollam, 60 km north of the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram. The CBL’s Rs 5.9-crore prize money makes it the fourth highest in all sports in India. The first three winners of each match will get Rs 5 lakh, Rs 3 lakh, and Rs 1 lakh, respectively. Further, all participants will get a bonus prize of Rs 4 lakh for each match.
Kerala Tourism plans to organise an auction down the course of the CBL, till which it will own all the nine teams. “This is a new product being held on the IPL format of cricket,” says Kerala Tourism Secretary Rani George. “Therefore, more time needs to be given to franchisees to study the product and be convinced of its professional moorings and commercial benefits.”
Adds Tourism Director P Bala Kiran: “We will revisit the financial model of CBL and present it before the franchisees before the next round of auction.”
Tickets for the boat races can be booked online through ‘Book my Show’ platform. Around 20 counters are being set up in all the venues for spot purchase of tickets, priced between Rs 100 and Rs 3,000.
