Elite Football League of India
Current season, competition or edition: 2016 EFLI season |
|
 |
|
| Sport | American football |
|---|---|
| Founded | 5 August 2011[1] |
| Inaugural season | 2012 |
| CEO | Richard Whelan |
| No. of teams | 24 |
| Country |  India Pakistan Sri Lanka |
| Most recent champion(s) | Pune Marathas (1st title) |
| Most titles | Pune Marathas (1) |
| TV partner(s) | TEN Sports TEN Action |
| Official website | EFLI.com |
The Elite Football League of India (EFLI) is a professional American football league based in India. It was originally founded with eight franchises in 2011 and currently has 24 franchises throughout South Asia, among whom 21 located in India, two in Sri Lanka and one in Pakistan.
The winners of the first championship were Pune Marathas, who claimed the title after defeating Delhi Defenders 6–0 in the Elite Bowl I on 10 November 2012.[2]
Contents
Establishment
In August 2011, the EFLI officially announced the launch of the league.[3] The aim of the league is to introduce American football to the Indian market and its large consumer base.[4] The organisation's management team consists of both United States and Indian business and entertainment executives as well as several U.S. sports figures.[5] U.S. brand marketing consultant Sunday Zeller is noted as the founder.[6]
Prominent investors include Brandon Chillar an Indian American linebacker from the Super Bowl-winning Green Bay Packers who played eight games that 2010 season until an injury put him on the injured reserve list,[7] Super Bowl-winning head coach Mike Ditka, former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin, and former NFL quarterbacks Ron Jaworski and Kurt Warner.[8][9] Investors outside of the sports community include U.S. actor and entertainment producer Mark Wahlberg.[10]
The first regular season games began 22 September 2012.[11] EFLI games are broadcast on television in India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, as well as in the Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Japan on Ten Sports. This will represent a potential audience of over 500 million viewers.[12][13]
League structure
The EFLI management's intent is to draw current rugby players from India over to the sport, in part by paying higher salaries than the rugby leagues.[14] In the initial announcement of the league on 5 August 2011, C.E.O. Richard Whelan noted that orientation programmes had attracted over 4,000 interested players in the previous month alone.[15] Similar orientation events are planned for Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal to attract a wide talent pool.[16]
Ownership of the teams will follow a franchise system, similar to the structure of the NFL, and initial ownership will be determined in an auction format. Unlike ownership rules in other Indian sports leagues, bidding will be open to both Indian and non-Indian investors alike. Although specifics about league finances have not been formally announced, officials note that 15% of revenues will be shared with the Ministry of Sports.[12]
While the teams represent cities across India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, all games for the inaugural season were hosted in Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The Sports Authority of India provided also the Balewadi Stadium, which was used for pre-season activities.[12] The games were held in a round-robin format so that all teams played each other.[16]
The current expansion plans include total of 24 teams, as a part of a project, which aims to expand to 52 teams by 2022.[17]
Teams
| India | Pakistan | Sri Lanka |
|---|---|---|
|
|
| Conference | Team | City/State | Stadium | First season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Division | |||||||
| North 1 Conference 1 |
Amritsar Guardians | Amritsar, Punjab |
TBA | 2016 (Season 2) | |||
| Patiala Silverbacks | Patiala, Punjab |
TBA | 2016 (Season 2) | ||||
| Punjab Stallions | TBA, Punjab |
TBA | 2016 (Season 2) | ||||
| Chandigarh Tigers | Chandigarh, Punjab-Haryana |
TBA | 2016 (Season 2) | ||||
| North 2 Conference 2 |
Delhi Defenders | Delhi, Capital Territory |
TBA | 2012 (Season 1) | |||
| Lucknow Swarm | Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh |
TBA | 2016 (Season 2) | ||||
| Kolkata Vipers | Kolkata, West Bengal |
Salt Lake Stadium | 2012 (Season 1) | ||||
| Haryana Warriors | TBA, Haryana |
TBA | 2016 (Season 2) | ||||
| Center Division | |||||||
| Center 1 Conference 3 |
Surat Diamonds | Surat, Gujarat |
TBA | 2016 (Season 2) | |||
| Indore Flash | Indore, Madhya Pradesh |
TBA | 2016 (Season 2) | ||||
| Jaipur Legends | Jaipur, Rajasthan |
TBA | 2016 (Season 2) | ||||
| Gujarat Veers | Ahmedabad, Gujarat |
TBA | 2016 (Season 2) | ||||
| Center 2 Conference 4 |
Pune Blue Panthers | Pune, Maharashtra |
TBA | 2016 (Season 2) | |||
| Mumbai Gladiators | Mumbai, Maharashtra |
Cooperage Stadium | 2012 (Season 1) | ||||
| Pune Marathas | Pune, Maharashtra |
Balewadi Stadium | 2012 (Season 1) | ||||
| Navi Mumbai Sabers | Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra |
TBA | 2016 (Season 2) | ||||
| South Division | |||||||
| South 1 Conference 5 |
Bangalore Dragons | Bangalore, Karnataka |
TBA | 2016 (Season 2) | |||
| Hyderabad Skykings* | Hyderabad, Telangana |
Gachibowli Stadium | 2012 (Season 1) | ||||
| Bangalore Warhawks | Bangalore, Karnataka |
HAL Sports Stadium | 2012 (Season 1) | ||||
| Goa Waves | TBA, Goa |
TBA | 2016 (Season 2) | ||||
| South 2 Conference 6 |
Chennai Cobras | Chennai, Tamil Nadu |
TBA | 2016 (Season 2) | |||
| Kandy Kings1 | Kandy, Central Province |
TBA | 2016 (Season 2) | ||||
| Colombo Lions | Colombo, Western Province |
Sugathadasa Stadium | 2012 (Season 1) | ||||
| Pakistan Wolfpak | Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa |
TBA | 2012 (Season 1) | ||||
| * denotes a relocation of a franchise. See respective team articles for more information. 1 Kandy Kings are not to be confused with Kandy Skykings, which now are known as Hyderabad Skykings. |
|||||||
Championships
| Season | Elite Bowl | Final Venue | MVP | # of Teams | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winners | Score | Runners-up | ||||
| 2012 Details |
Pune Marathas | 06–00 | Delhi Defenders | Sugathadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka |
Roshan Lobo (RB, Warhawks) | 8 |
| 2015 | Cancelled in favour of inaugural EFLI University Championship |
|||||
| 2016 Details |
TBD | – | TBD | TBD | TBD | 24 |
Elite Bowl Records
Note – In the table below, teams are ordered first by number of wins, then by number of appearances, and finally by year of first appearance. In the "Season(s)" column, bold years indicate winning seasons.
| Team | Appearances | Wins | Losses | Season(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pune Marathas | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2012 |
| 2 | Delhi Defenders | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2012 |
Documentary
In 2012, the filmmaking duo Evan Rosenfeld and Jenna Moshell began following the EFLI and chronicling its inaugural season and the introduction of American football to South Asia in the documentary Birth of a Sport.[18]
See also
- National Football League
- NFL Europe
- Israeli Football League
- Philippine Tackle Football League
- Korea American Football Association (South Korea)
- X-League (Japan)
- List of leagues of American and Canadian football
References
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External links
- Articles with dead external links from October 2013
- Use Indian English from May 2014
- All Wikipedia articles written in Indian English
- Use dmy dates from May 2014
- Elite Football League of India
- American football leagues
- American football in India
- American football in Sri Lanka
- American football in Pakistan
- Sports leagues established in 2011
