The FIH Pro League is designed as an entertainment product and is the centerpiece of the International Hockey Federations' New Events Portfolio, kicking off in January 2019 – replacing the Champions’ Trophy and the World League Semifinals and World League Final. It will provide – for the first time ever – a regular calendar of must-see events played in packed stadia across the world and throughout the year.

Fans and athletes alike will enjoy a new annual global home and away league involving the world’s leading hockey nations. It will culminate in a Grand Final with one nation being crowned Pro League Champions and receiving the single largest financial prize in the sport.

The FIH believes the FIH Pro League will transform the landscape of international hockey because hockey fans the world over will be able to watch their favorite sport for an extended period on the same channel each year. Moreover, those fans whose team is participating have the chance to be part of the noise and sheer excitement of watching their team regularly in their home country.

The approach will ensure that international teams will play against opponents once at home and once away each year in this league. Following several months of competition, the top four ranked teams will then qualify for a stand-alone Grand Final event, which will determine the winners of the competition. This will be identical for the men’s and women’s leagues.

What are the numbers?

  • There will be 9 men’s and 9 women’s teams
  • Therefore, every team will play 8 home and 8 away matches
  • That means there will be 144 FIH Pro League matches altogether (excluding the Grand Final event)
  • Matches will be played between January and June each year
  • Matches will first be played in the southern hemisphere with the northern hemisphere teams traveling to the Southern hemisphere and the Southern hemisphere teams playing against each other
  • Then the matches will move to the northern hemisphere with the southern hemisphere teams traveling to the northern hemisphere and the northern hemisphere teams playing against each other
  • In other words, the competition will follow the sun!
  • Each team will stay in the league for a minimum of 4 years

The Grand Final

In addition, so that the FIH can generate maximum excitement and the most fan interest possible - and to build huge media coverage, drive commercial advantage, income generation and all-round profile building. The FIH will introduce a Grand Final at which they will crown the ultimate winner.

The Grand Final will take place within 2 weeks of the close of the league and will consist of an event involving the top four teams (both men’s and women’s) playing together at a pre-determined location.


Men's event:
  • Argentina
  • Australia
  • Belgium
  • Germany
  • Great Britain
  • Netherlands
  • New Zealand
  • Pakistan
  • Spain
Women's event:
  • Argentina
  • Australia
  • Belgium
  • China
  • Germany
  • Great Britain
  • Netherlands
  • New Zealand
  • USA

The teams the FIH selected to play in the first FIH Pro League are not simply the ‘best’ nine national men’s and women’s teams based on traditional world ranking data. Instead, they used a much broader set of criteria as part of our application process.

The FIH set their participation criteria very transparently, encouraging a range of nations to apply. The aim of the process was to ensure the quality of the League and the highest possible standard of events right from the start.

The criteria was developed around meeting the three main objectives of the new event portfolio: to generate a massive change in television and media coverage for hockey; create big, bold, packed and loud events and to make a step change in future revenues for the sport.

In December 2016, the FIH sent application documents to the top 16 men’s and women’s hockey nations as listed in the FIH Hero World Rankings. They were clear that the teams would be chosen by a specially selected FIH Event Portfolio Implementation Panel.

National Associations (NAs) were required to submit extensive information in order to be eligible, with sustainability the key aspect of the Leagues’ long-term vision.

Alongside this process, the FIH held extensive discussions with national broadcasters regarding exposure and media coverage of hockey within each of the selected nations. The commitment of national broadcasters is fundamental to the success of the FIH Pro League in promoting the competition and ensuring millions of fans can consume hockey.

The FIH asked for detailed financial modeling, projecting budgets for both the participation in matches overseas as well as hosting matches in their homeland. Details about marketing proposals for promoting the League plus commercial strategies aimed at generating income were required, alongside evidence of financial sustainability.

The FIH also considered which nations could best offer the perfect stage for these teams to shine. With a requirement to host ‘Big, Bold, Packed and Loud’ events in line with the FIH’s 10-year Hockey Revolution strategy, venue selection and experience of hosting previous events was also included amongst the criteria for entry.

There was no bidding fee associated with League participation, so nations did not need to worry that selection would simply be offered to the highest bidder.

The deadline for application was the April 30, 2017 and there was an overwhelming response from NAs wanting to be part of this league.

In all there were 13 Women’s teams vying for 9 spots and 12 Men’s teams competing for their 9 places. It was an incredibly competitive process and gave the panel some hard decisions to make in choosing the teams.

Whilst it has not been easy, the FIH knows it’s been a thorough and robust process - assessing applications against the defined criteria:

  • Broadcast and Media coverage
  • Financial sustainability
  • Commercial vision
  • Legal compliance
  • Proposed venues
  • Match Experience and Sports Presentation
  • Organization and personnel
  • Marketing strategies
  • Motivation and Legacy
  • Team performance history
  • Previous event hosting

It was clear in the during the application process that nations wanted to consider using a number of different venues in different cities around their country to hold their home matches.

 

This means that all matches will be being truly accessible to the largest number of fans as practically possible, dependent on appropriate venues. So, while our chosen teams have a home base, the concept of ‘home’ applies equally in any national venue where local fans get the chance to see their home team play ‘live’ and experience the passion, excitement and noise of the FIH Pro League in action.

 

There is one notable exception: Pakistan’s team in the Men’s League will play all of their home matches abroad. This limits the complications that other nations could face travelling to play in Pakistan.

 

To find out where each match will take place, view the schedule.

 

The FIH formed a Event Portfolio Working Group in December 2014 to develop a set of recommendations to put to the Executive Board. Before any decisions or recommendations were made, the FIH knew it was critical to agree some principles that would ensure they made the right decisions for the right reasons, keeping them on track when it came to the most difficult or issues.

FIH Principles were:

  1. Stand-out events - FIH had to create events that would produce the maximum drama possible and be able to cut through the noise - events that will really get noticed.
  2. Simple and meaningful - The players, fans and the FIH commercial partners needed to understand, engage and get involved with the events as easily and spontaneously as possible.
  3. A predictable, regular calendar - FIH felt it was essential that everybody involved in hockey should be able to plan ahead and develop new habits - particularly fans who wanted to see more of the games they love.
  4. Opportunities to see- FIH wanted fans to be able to see their team playing more often so they can build allegiance to their ‘home team’ and their ‘home players’.
  5. Focus on rivalries - This was about increasing the number of games played between nations “with historical sporting rivalries” - and also ensuring the FIH were playing the quality type of matches that most fans really wanted to see!

From the outset the FIH agreed that every event in the new portfolio had to meet not one, but all of the principles drew up

Consultation process…
Never in the history of hockey has the FIH consulted so thoroughly with so many people from different stakeholder groups and different backgrounds in different countries. The FIH held meetings, workshops and conference calls, presenting early drafts and many, many amended drafts - including concepts that were completely discarded along the way.

Three years of research, consultation and development with more than 600 individuals, including athletes, National Associations, Continental Federations, major broadcasters, the International Olympic Committee, individuals at Continental Federation congresses, officials and umpires, FIH Committee and Panel members and FIH staff.

In addition to this, the FIH invited Deloitte (international specialists in audit, consulting, financial advisory, risk management and tax), to provide extensive support in developing the financial modeling for the new portfolio of events.