The auction

The Hockey India League 2.0 kicks off with their player auction on October 13

In 2013 we witnessed the first ever auction of players for a professional hockey league. They flew in English auctioneers and made it into a very, very, very long “spectacle”. Back in the days it was difficult to find where to watch it. This time they made it easier…

The entire auction will be livestreamed on their new YouTube channel:

It should be live and free to watch all over the world starting this Sunday at 9:30am UK time. Which means 10:30am European time, 2:00pm in New Delhi or 7:30pm in Sydney.

October 13 we start with the men. The next day it will most likey be the second chance for those without bid among the men and last but not least the women on October 15.

Less money for more players in HIL 2.0

Having learned a few lessons from the past Hockey India decided this time to set a lower maximum purse for all teams while requiring them to buy more players compared to version 1.0 from the HIL. For the men the maximum amount of money to be spent on players will be USD 475000 and half of thet for the women.

So players will see less spectacular amounts bid for them most likely. Though I expect especially the Indian internationals (Olympic bronze in Tokyo and Paris) will be going home with a lot of money for some 6 weeks of hockey.

Some names for the coaching staff are already circulating the social media but they should all be announced and confirmed tomorrow as well. For the men’s teams we’ll see at least 3 head coaches from Australia, at least 3 from the Netherlands and 1 Belgian are the rumours.

Anyway… enjoy the auction tomorrow!
And for some more info about the HIL 2.0 ↓