New Delhi: Hockey India League is back after a hiatus of seven years and the Indian hockey fans can’t stop talking about it.
The fan-favorite franchise-based league will kick off on the 25th of December with auctions scheduled for next week.
Since Hockey India announced the league and the addition of six women’s teams along with eight men’s teams, the excitement has been evident, the chatter about the new teams and owners has been relentless.
Here is a complete list of teams set to participate in Hockey India League 2024:
Men’s teams:
Delhi SG Pipers: SG Sports led by Mahesh Bhupathi brought the rights of the Delhi franchise for the HIL 2024 and has already made a big move appointing legendary Indian goalkeeper PR Sreejesh in a mentorship role and former Indian coach Graham Reid as the head coach.
SG Sports is the sports arm of APL Apollo Tubes Limited and already has teams in the Global Chess League (Alpine SG Pipers) and Ultimate Table Tennis (Ahmedabad SG Pipers).
Hyderabad Toofans: From the city of Nizams, Hyderabad Toofans is owned by Resolute Sports Private Limited, which also owns a team in the Prime Volleyball League named Delhi Toofans.
The team from Hyderabad has appointed renowned broadcaster and former hockey player Siddharth Pandey as the technical director.
Odisha team: The only team to return from the previous roster of HIL is Odisha government-backed Kalinga Lancers. Kalinga Lancers are reigning champions of HIL after winning the 2017 edition which turned out to be the last edition of the league.
Punjab: Owned by the famous JSW Sports, the home of hockey, Punjab will return to Hockey India League.
Lucknow: A team from Uttar Pradesh will return to the league with JK Cement winning the rights for the Lucknow franchise.
Previously the Lucknow franchise was owned by controversial Sahara Group and the team was known as Uttar Pradesh Wizards.
Ranchi: Another franchise to return to the league with a different owner is from Ranchi.
Ranchi was the only city that saw two champions in Ranchi Rays and Ranchi Rhinos. The team will be owned by Navoyam Sports.
Kolkata: Sharachi Sports, one of the investors in Indian Super League club Mohammedan SC, has got the rights for the Kolkata franchise.
Chennai: The Chennai franchise of the league will be owned by Future Gaming Pvt. limited.
Women’s teams:
Delhi SG Pipers: SG sports has got both teams for Delhi with a women’s team.
Haryana: The Haryana franchise in women’s league will be owned by JSW Sports. JSW also has the Punjab franchise of men’s league.
Kolkata: Similar to JSW and SG, Sharchi Sports will be another owner with two teams. They will own the Kolkata franchise in the women’s league.
Odisha: Another double owner will be Navoyam Sports who will own the Odisha women’s team.
The other two women teams will be added later on with Hockey India in negotiations with stakeholders.