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Beginning in 2014, the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) shifted the perception of not just the sport of Kabaddi, but the entirety of South Asian sports for the better. Over the years, PKL has transformed Kabaddi, a rural sport, into a professional sport spectacle across Asia.
Every year, the PKL has 12 franchises, and its league season draws in millions of viewers, particularly in India, where it is the second most-watched sport (after cricket). One of the most critical factors to the PKL’s success is the design of the franchise’s individual branding, where the jerseys serve as the centerpiece.
Evolution of Visual Identity in PKL
PKL’s branding strategy began with the need to professionalize kabaddi to make it comparable to other leagues around the world, such as the IPL, a competitor to PKL. In the league’s inaugural season, PKL featured weak brand designs, bland team uniforms, and a lack of cohesive styles. It wasn’t until Season 3 in 2016 that teams began incorporating region-based heritage colors.
Abhishek Bachchan, the owner of the Jaipur Pink Panthers, created a strong brand recall with the team’s pink color. This was done to symbolize agility and fierceness, which are represented in the panther. This branding choice has transferred to the panther motif and is used by online betting site and Alankrit to showcase the team’s betting odds. This was a strategy to align with the league’s branding goals of creating memorable icons in the sport. U Mumba, described as Mumbai’s dynamic spirit, added orange as the dominant color in the inaugural season. The color describes energy and urban brightness. It reflects the fast-paced life of the city.
The design elements in the revised jerseys included:
- Moisture-wicking fabrics for the players’ comfort.
- High-contrast and bold graphics for clear broadcast.
- Seamless integrations of sponsor logos, for example, Vivo and team colors.
The Role of Pink in Establishing Jaipur Pink Panthers
The color pink has become a hallmark of the Jaipur Pink Panthers, setting the team as a new standard in recognition within the PKL. Launched in 2014, the color has multiple meanings, deriving from the culture of Rajasthan, while also signalling, in a more psychological sense, playfulness and unpredictability—fitting for the raiding aspects of kabaddi.
Pink is also the most recognized color in the sporting context, enhancing brand recognition by 80%, as shown in the history of the Panthers, where most of the 2022 Season 9 winning jerseys were noted by online cricket betting using pink for easy visibility. The impact of the graphics, and of the logo in particular, conveys the tribal and fierce nature of the panther and the kabaddi raider. This season incorporated blue to the graphics to provide contrast and aid the viewer and ref during critical do-or-die moments.
This season contributed to the playoffs, and fans in the home arena of Jaipur created a pink contrast on the channel and banners to provide a visual aid on the integrated movement of the banners.
Orange Branding and U Mumba’s Urban Appeal
Choosing orange for U Mumba jerseys symbolizes the energy of Mumbai, and the jerseys capture the relentless energy of the city. The team’s psyche is orange, characterized by enthusiasm and approachability, especially for a team that plans to represent the economic capital of the country.
The wave patterns that form part of the design on U Mumba kits and orange jerseys mimic the flow of tides and the fluidity of the team’s defense. For Season 10, the design team made a switch to a lighter orange to reduce glare and more orange with black shorts to ground the look. This helped improve on-court presence, as evidenced by their consistent finishes in the top four.
The Role of Yellow in Telugu Titans and Tamil Thalaivas
The Telugu Titans and Tamil Thalaivas use yellow as an optimistic and fast-moving color. This reflects their aggressive playing style. For Telugu Titans, yellow was used for the first time in 2017. It was paired with red, which represented the fire of Hyderabad. The logo, which features a titan charging, utilizes bold contrast with the yellow background, making the titan easily identifiable in multi-camera feeds.
Chennai-based Tamil Thalaivas uses a combination of yellow and blue for a coastal color scheme. Their kits feature trident icons and are influenced by Tamil mythology. During Season 10, yellow was used to dominate the upper body, and blue was used to create an ocean wave effect by fading the color with a gradient that extended down to the bottom. This design is practical for visibility and ties to the bright and sunny southern India, where yellow is used during local festivals and signifies prosperity.
Color Psychology in Performance
| Team | Primary Color | Key Graphic Element | Titles Won (as of 2024) | Notable Impact |
| Jaipur Pink Panthers | Pink | Stylized panther silhouette | 2 | Boosted merchandise sales by 25% in the title years |
| U Mumba | Orange | Wave patterns at hem | 1 | Enhanced urban fan engagement in Mumbai diaspora |
| Telugu Titans | Yellow | Charging titan figure | 0 | Improved raid success in high-visibility games |
| Tamil Thalaivas | Yellow-Blue | Trident icon with gradients | 0 | Tied to regional festivals, increasing local attendance |
This table illustrates how targeted colors correlate with performance metrics, drawn from official PKL records up to Season 11.
Broader Implications for PKL’s Asian Reach
Branded PKL’s color has helped kabaddi expansion across Asia, from Brahman’s Australia exhibitions to the Bangladeshi Pro Kabaddi League crossovers. School programs in India, where 70% of youth teams have adopted the pink, orange, and yellow kits for uniformity.
In places like Indonesia and Japan, where streaming Kabaddi is popular, visuals really cross language barriers. In cultures influenced by anime, the color yellow is associated with high energy. The league’s Melbourne Raid in 2024 showcased global kits and was recognized by 4,400 people who came and could identify the teams instantly.
The layering of pink, orange, and yellow continues to define the PKL, turning the jerseys into symbols of competitive spirit.
