Findings: Based on the inputs from key informants and prior research, this research identifies fan acceptability as a measure of success for leagues in the early stage of their development. Findings of the research indicate that the success of leagues is dependent upon the sport and its fan base, national team performance for that sport, design of the league, quality of players, initiatives to build fan experience, relationship of league with relevant sports federation and involvement of celebrities in the league.

Originality/ Value: Sports leagues are appearing for the first time in many new sports markets, especially in developing countries. It is possibly the first study that has been carried out to understand sports leagues in initial phases of development and to identify factors that contribute to their success. Almost all previous studies on this subject are restricted to North American or European market, this study is one of the few ones conducted in an emerging sports markets. This study identifies some novel factors such as role of celebrities and relationship between leagues and national federations and enhances the current understanding of leagues.

Implication/ limitations: A number of sports leagues are being started in emerging sports markets. The findings of the research have implications for academicians who want to study the complex dynamics of sports leagues as well as practitioners who wish to apply these findings to improve the chances of success of their leagues. The study is done in India and can be improved if data from other emerging markets is also incorporated.
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand and identify the factors that contribute to the success of sports leagues in emerging sports markets.

Design/ Methodology/ Approach: This paper uses a mixed methodology qualitative approach. It relies on qualitative inputs from key informants through focus group discussions of sports followers and interviews of experts from sports domain such as team officials, league administrators, etc. The research is further supplemented by secondary data from scholarly articles on related subjects and media reports pertaining to the phenomenon under study.