Sport Badminton Country India Number of teams 6 | No. of teams 6 Most recent
champion(s) Chennai Smashers | |
 | ||
Founded 2013 as Indian Badminton League Venue(s) Hyderabad, Mumbai, Lucknow, Bangalore and New Delhi Inaugural season 2013 Indian Badminton League Administrator Badminton Association of India | ||
Premier Badminton League is a franchise league, managed and commercially owned by the Badminton Association of India. It was named Indian Badminton League (IBL) when founded in 2013 then later rechristened to Premier Badminton League before the start of 2nd season in 2016. The inaugural edition of the Indian Badminton League was held in India from 14 August 2013 to 31 August 2013.Hyderabad Hotshots won the inaugural IBL title at Mumbai on 31 August 2013. The second season of the league 2016 Premier Badminton League was held from 2 to 17 January 2016. Delhi Acers defeated Mumbai Rockets in the final to clinch the title. The third season began on 1 January 2017.
Contents
IBL 2013 auctions
The first season auctions were scheduled on 30 June 2013 which were postponed to 19 July 2013 and again postponed to 22 July 2013. The 2013 auctions were held in Delhi and were conducted by International Auctioneer Bob Hayton. The highest paid players were the Malaysian Lee Chong Wei, sold for $135,000 to Mumbai Masters and Indian Saina Nehwal who went to Hyderabad Hotshots for $120,000. The auction itself was not short of controversy. The base price of Indian marquee players, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa were halved from USD 50,000 to USD 25,000, without the players' notice.
Chinese players did not take part in the 2013 tournament.
First Season
Indian badminton league started in 2013. The first season was scheduled from 14 August 2013 to 31 August 2013. Hyderabad Hotshots beat Awadhe Warriors in the final by three games to one at Mumbai's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor Stadium. In round robin 15 matches were scheduled across six Indian cities, viz. Delhi, Lucknow, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, and Hyderabad. Cities of Delhi, Lucknow, and Pune were host for three matches each while Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad were host for two matches each in the group stage. First semi-final was played at Hyderabad's Gachibowli Indoor Stadium while the second was played at Bangalore's Kanteerava Indoor Stadium. The final was scheduled at Mumbai at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor Stadium
Third Season
The third season of the Premier Badminton League started on 1 January 2017 and concluded on 14 January 2017. It followed the same format as the earlier two leagues, and the four teams to proceed to the semi-finals were Awadhe Warriors, Mumbai Rockets, Chennai Smashers and Hyderabad Hunters. Chennai Smashers beat Awadhe Warriors 4-1 and Mumbai Rockets beat Hyderabad Hunters 3-(-1) to proceed to the final. Chennai Smashers won the tournament after beating Mumbai Rockets 4-3.
Franchises
There were six franchises with each team having 10 players including five foreign players. They are:
Broadcast rights
In 2013 STAR Sports India purchased the broadcasting rights for India.