New Delhi: Indian sports have seen this script before. A new league is coming with ambition, big money, overseas faces, big promises, multi-city vision and the inevitable question: Can it survive in a country where cricket consumes more oxygen?Melburnian Jeremy Luiger has heard this question before. In fact, he has lived.Long before becoming commissioner of the India Basketball League (IBL), Loeliger saw the battle for basketball’s relevance in Australia – a market dominated by Australian rules football, rugby, cricket, football, sporting giants, passionate fan bases, and limited room for another professional competition. This, he says, is why India makes sense.“There are a lot of similarities between basketball, the position basketball was in Australia 15 years ago and the position basketball is here in India,” Loeliger told TimesofIndia.com ahead of the BUDx NBA House in Delhi, where the IBL’s eight foundation cities were announced.The comparison is intentional. In Australia, basketball had participation, but not a sustained professional production. He believes that India too is sitting at a similar crossroads. “The passion was there, but the capital was not. And I think the same is true here in India.”
Initially, the India Basketball League (IBL) will feature six city-based teams.
The assessment is significant as the Indian game is littered with leagues that have struggled to convert novelty into longevity. Even established sports with deep roots have struggled with attendance, investment and visibility.Both the Hockey India League and the Pro Wrestling League had a gap of seven years. The Premier Badminton League was played for five seasons but has not resumed since 2020. The Premier Hockey League, the Champions Tennis League and the World Series of Hockey are some that started with much fanfare before closing shop.But the IBL pitch is different. It is not trying to out-cricket.“We’re not selling eyeballs. Not to begin with. We’re selling hearts and minds,” Lueger said.
What we want is an audience that’s really engaged and passionate about our game, that supports it, that loves it for what it is.
IBL Commissioner Jeremy Lueger
“We’re selling that it’s a comprehensive product that’s for everybody, and that it’s going to be entertaining from the moment you come on. We’re not going to have that big of a cricket audience for many years to come. That’s OK.“What we want is an audience that’s really engaged and excited about our game, that supports it, that loves it for what it is. You don’t always have to play the volume game,” he continued.This may be the most revealing line about what IBL is actually trying to create.In an era where sports leagues are obsessed with reach, ranking and scale, the IBL is opting for intimacy. Passion over volume. Community on mass market metrics.What basketball has to offer, though, is perhaps the least explored of Indian sports: entertainment.
The eight foundation cities of IBL are Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh and Pune.
“I think there’s a lack of sports entertainment here in India,” Lueger said.“Yes, there are some sports that do it well, and the IPL is a perfect example. It’s a great sports entertainment product, but it’s only played two or two and a half months out of the year. People want to be entertained 12 months a year.This is where basketball gets interesting. Unlike cricket, where physical distance separates fans from players, basketball offers intimacy. noise velocity. Get in touch. The theater“One of the great things about basketball is the intimacy of the game. If you go to a game, you’re sitting there. You can literally smell the players,” Lueger explained.“You can hold a basketball or a basketball player in your lap. There’s no other sport where you can listen to the coaches, the players and the referees. So, I think that’s one of the factors that makes basketball unique.”
Each IBL team squad will consist of 12 players comprising of Indian and foreign players.
Based on an elevator pitch, the IBL isn’t selling just one game. It’s selling an experience. This helps explain some of the league’s structural choices.When the league begins in early 2027, six teams will form the inaugural competition before expansion. Each 12-player squad will include seven Indian players and five foreign professionals, with regulations to ensure that local players are not overshadowed. Players will be centrally contracted and paid by the league, with a draft system rather than a traditional franchise spending race.Unlike other sports leagues, organizers are in no rush to privatize teams, introduce flash auctions and mix Bollywood with sports. The eight foundation cities are Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh and Pune. The six teams that will play the first season, or more, will be decided by the fans. This measured approach is unusual in Indian sports, where sports are increasingly commercialized before the fundamentals are secured. Lueger insists that patience is intentional.
Action from the BUDx NBA House in Delhi, where the IBL’s eight foundation cities were announced.
“It takes patience, it takes partners, and it takes persistence. And that requires a balance sheet. We have all those things now,” he explained of the mantra behind creating a successful product.Perhaps the boldest assumption underlying this project is that India’s basketball audience already exists.“Everybody knows about LeBron (James). Everybody knows that Victor Wimbenyama is the next big thing now.”They say the problem is access. NBA Games take place in inconvenient time zones. The stars are far away. The fandom is fragmented.“But when the games start at 7.30 or 8.30, 9am and finish, it’s hard to tune in. So the latent demand is there, but the access isn’t.”That’s the opportunity the IBL hopes to open: prime-time basketball featuring players from Indian neighborhoods, not just imported stars. The big dream, though, lies beyond the first season. Basketball’s global ecosystem gives it an optimistic outlet that few Indian sports can offer. “That’s when we’re going to find the next Yao Ming or Jeremy Lin. That’s when we’re going to find our Giannis Antetokounmpo.”This is an ambitious claim. But not completely unreasonable.India already has youth playing basketball, a growing street culture, familiarity with the NBA and a lifestyle connection to the sport. The missing piece has been a reliable home platform.The High Performance Center in Bengaluru – where 88 professional athletes are currently training – is part of this long-term vision.Still, realism is important. Infrastructure remains the league’s biggest immediate hurdle, prompting organizers to be patient.“The biggest challenge here is the infrastructure. Having venues that are suitable for the kind of production that we want to give to our fans.”Suitable fields are limited. Hence, the first edition will be played in caravan format instead of home and away competition.“Infrastructure is probably the biggest challenge from a professional gameday perspective at the moment. But that’s OK, we’re going to start playing in a caravan, not as a home-and-away format. A home-and-away format will follow in the coming years.”But perhaps the biggest question isn’t infrastructure — it’s attention. In a country where every new league is ultimately measured against cricket, the IBL is making a different bet: that basketball doesn’t need to immediately win the numbers game, just the emotional one.If Lueger is right, India doesn’t need to be taught to love basketball. It just needs a league compelling enough to turn casual interest into lasting love.
