Elite Pro Basketball CEO opens up on promise of EPBL and EWPBL franchise-based leagues, laments lack of BFI support

Although in its infancy, EPBL and EWPBL has plenty of promise, and is currently under the leadership of Sunny Bhandarkar.

Franchise sports has become a common mainstay in India, since the inception of Indian Premier League in 2008. The success of IPL gave rise to franchise competitions in other sports; Indian Super League (football), Pro Kabaddi, Premier Badminton League, Ultimate Table Tennis league and much more.

Sunny Bhandarkar, CEO, EPBL & EWPBL

For basketball, we have the Elite Pro Basketball League (EPBL) and Elite Women's Pro Basketball League (EWPBL). What makes it stand out is that it doesn't include a category for men, but also has a competition for women. Although things have been totally hunky dory for the franchise competition since its beginnings in 2022, and it also received a warning from the Basketball Federation of India last year for hosting an 'unauthorised event'. It wasn't a surprise for basketball fans in India as the BFI has issued similar circulars in the past to other competitions too. Also, the federation is famous for their internal politics and failure to promote the sport in India.

Although in its infancy, the franchise-based competition has plenty of promise, and is currently under the leadership of Sunny Bhandarkar, who is the CEO of Elite Pro Basketball. In an interview, Bhandarkar explained why basketball is not a popular sport in India, and also opened up on the tussle with BFI.

Basketball is not popular yet as a professional sport due to the lack of a roadmap, a platform or in simpler terms, basketball can not be pursued as a profession unless and until they have their own ecosystem of Basketball. Therefore, a professional basketball league is needed. We are here to bridge the gap between the players and the ability to make a livelihood while playing basketball. This would boost the level of play immensely and would allow the athletes to focus solely on performing better, knowing that their hardwork will not go waste.

Until now, the players have had to “drop the ball” to earn a living. We are here to create jobs and professional as well as security for them that allows them to keep pursuing basketball.

2. Do you think the BFI is to blame for the lack of popularity of basketball in India?

We don’t want to blame any federation or any association for the inability to make basketball successful yet , but would encourage them to be supportive of letting their athletes play in private tournaments as this ups the level of play and in turn, allows the federations to utilise better skills from the athletes to perform at par with the other countries.

Basketball is not just a success venture in the US, but also China, Europe and Australia to name a few. There’s no reason why an athlete should be stopped from playing a league.

3. Do you think EPBL and EWPBL can reach the popularity of maybe IPL or ISL in the near future? Why do you think people still don't know about these two leagues?

We are 100% sure that the IPL will continue to grow and is a mammoth, but the law of abundance states that there is no doubt other sports will also thrive in a country with around 1.4 billion people.

Today almost everyone knows and is exposed to a basketball court in their locality or in their schools. People have a vague idea of how the game works and often play recreationally.

What we think it will take to make it work is to provide something bigger than Basketball just being “extra-curricular” and to give the elite players a platform to let the new generation be inspired and seek the same roadmap.

In the US, every school player knows if they play well they will be picked up by an esteemed university on full ride scholarships and further if a college players plays well they get drafted in the G league or the Pros.

Today. in India, there is no such roadmap that enables a casual school player to pursue the sport as a career option.

4. Are you planning on grassroots development? This is very weak in India right now for basketball or is it just a commercial project for you?

We are working on setting up our own academies by the next month as well as starting a collegiate tournament across more than 8 cities where we will pick up the top players to polish them, train them in advanced coaching camps in India as well as in the USA.

Moreover, we recently announced our own developmental league named the UBL ( Uprising Basketball League) where more players will get a chance to play at a highly competitive standard. The talented athletes will be picked up to go on to the EPBL and EWPBL.

So an entire ecosystem for Indian basketball will be created.

5. Has the BFI been supportive?

No, BFI has not been supportive of us so far inspite of a lot of efforts. The players who came forward to join as professionals faced a lot of backlash and letters prohibiting them to play.

However, we keep going forward and keep doing what is best for the athletes.