SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
India is the latest country to announce its commitment to the esports industry following the launch of the Indian Gaming League (IGL) this week. 
Siddhanth Valecha, IGL spokesperson said of the news: “We want to revive the gaming culture in India. We interacted with India’s gaming community before launching the league, and we received a tremendous response.”
He added: “In India, most gamers spend eight to nine hours in a cafe, playing games as a hobby, or as a passion. We want to give them a platform where they can convert their hobby into a profession.”
The games set to be featured in the league, which’ll include both online and offline contests, include major esports titles League of Legends, Dota 2 and CS:GO, as well as more popular mainstream offerings such as Call of Duty and Fifa.
Yash Pariani, Co-Founder of the IGL, noted that the league has already agreed some significant sponsorship deals. He stated: “Sony will be our hardware partner, Paytm our monetary transactions partner, while RedBull is our events sponsor.”
There will be franchises, both game and city specific, available for purchase and whilst none have yet been sold league spokesperson Valecha noted that interest has been high. He said: “Everyone we have spoken to, including corporates, startups or even Bollywood personalities, have expressed interest in buying teams in the league.”
