Home of Champions: Inside Sports University of Haryana, Rai — KCL's Official Venue Partner

Home of Champions: Inside Sports University of Haryana, Rai — KCL's Official Venue Partner

Every match of Kabaddi Champions League Season 1, from the opening-day league fixtures to the dramatic final between Rohtak Royals and Bhiwani Bulls, was played at a single venue, the Sports University of Haryana in Rai, Sonipat. That exclusivity made the university far more than a host ground for the league's debut season, it made it a genuine partner in building KCL's identity from day one.

A Campus Built for the Future of Indian Sport

Sports University of Haryana is still a young institution, established in 2024, but it carries serious institutional weight. Recognised by the University Grants Commission and a member of the Association of Indian Universities, the university holds a NAAC A++ accreditation and has been ranked among the top 100 universities globally in the Times Higher Education Interdisciplinary Science Rankings for 2026. It operates under the Governor of Haryana as Chancellor, with Vice-Chancellor Ashok Kumar, a former IPS officer and Director General of Police, overseeing an institution built specifically around physical education and sports science rather than sport as an afterthought to academics.

A Home for Kabaddi, On and Off the Mat

What makes Sports University of Haryana particularly fitting as a home for Kabaddi Champions League is that kabaddi isn't just played on its grounds, it's studied there. The university's Post Graduate Diploma in Sports Coaching includes kabaddi among its specialised disciplines, alongside sports like athletics, wrestling, and boxing, meaning the same campus that hosted KCL's inaugural season is also actively training the next generation of kabaddi coaches. That combination of elite competition and serious academic infrastructure around the sport gives Kabaddi Champions League a venue partner genuinely invested in kabaddi's long-term development, not just its facilities.

The Stage for Every KCL Season 1 Moment

Across a compact twelve-day league phase, Sports University of Haryana hosted matches in prime-time evening slots throughout the tournament, giving fans in the stadium and viewers watching on Zee Channels and DD Sports a consistent, high-quality venue for the entire Kabaddi Champions League season. Both semi-finals were staged here, as was the tournament's showpiece final, a 32-30 thriller that came down to the final raid, with the university's grounds providing the backdrop for every defining moment of KCL's debut year.

A Venue Built to Grow With the League

The partnership carries real long-term significance given the state government's own ambitions for the campus. Haryana's Sports Department has announced plans to develop the Rai campus at an investment of approximately Rs 491 crore, with officials describing the vision as building a facility capable of preparing future Olympians and international-level athletes, complete with world-class training grounds, upgraded athlete accommodation, and nutrition services aligned with international standards. For Kabaddi Champions League, hosting matches at a venue actively scaling up toward that kind of infrastructure means the league's home ground is set to grow right alongside it.

What This Partnership Means Going Forward

A league is only ever as strong as the stage it competes on, and Kabaddi Champions League found in Sports University of Haryana a venue that matched its own ambitions, serious institutional backing, a genuine academic connection to the sport itself, and infrastructure investment planned well beyond a single season. As Kabaddi Champions League looks ahead to Season 2, its continued partnership with Sports University of Haryana, Rai gives the league a home ground built not just for today's matches, but for the future of Haryana kabaddi itself.

Follow the Kabaddi Champions League website for further updates on this partnership and everything building toward Season 2.