Hockey India League (HIL) is an Indian professional league for field hockey tournament. The competition is conducted by Hockey India and will be contended among 5 teams. These franchisee-based teams will include hockey players from India and across the globe. The tournament has been approved by the International Hockey Federation (FIH). The international Federation has also provided a 30 day window for the participation of all top hockey players. The competition will occur on home and away basis which will result in multi-header matches. The 2013 Hockey India League (or Hero Hockey India League) is being conducted from 14 January 2013 to 10 February 2013.

Administration of Hockey India League (HIL)
Hockey India League (HIL) is headquartered in New Delhi and Narinder Batra has been appointed as the Chairman of the Hockey League. Steve Catton was assigned as the competitions director by Hockey India (HI). Barry Anderson has also been appointed as the tournament director for the tournament. The members of the Hockey India League (HIL) Board include Rajat Sharma (media personality), Arun Jaitley (Leader of Opposition Party in the Rajya Sabha) and Rajeev Shukla (Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs).

Teams of Hockey India League (HIL)
The first season of Hockey India League, also known as 2013 Hero Hockey India League, will be organised from 14 January 2013 to 10 February 2013. It will be played by 5 franchises on home and away basis. The event was initially designed with 6 contending teams but the final team of Bangalore (Bengaluru) remained unsold.

The first franchise of the Hockey India League (HIL) was purchased by Sahara India Pariwar and it is based in Lucknow. The second team based in Punjab was brought by the Jaypee Group. The third team was the Ranchi based franchise which was picked up by Patel Uniexcel Group. The fourth franchise based in Delhi was bought by Wave Group which is a business house. The promoters of Dabur India Ltd (Burman family) purchased the fifth team of Mumbai. The sixth franchise based in Bangalore remained unsold. As a result, the hockey league became the five team tournament.

The five teams of the 2013 Hockey India League are discussed as follows-

Delhi Wave Riders- This franchise is owned by the Wave Group and is based in the city of Delhi. Ajay Bansal is the Head coach of the team and Sardar Singh has been appointed as the captain. Dhyan Chand National Stadium is the home ground of Delhi Wave Riders.

Mumbai Magicians- It is based in Mumbai and the franchise is owned by Dabur India Ltd. Ric Charlesworth serves as the Head coach and Sandeep Singh is the captain of the Mumbai Magicians team. The home ground of the team is Mahindra Hockey Stadium.

Punjab Warriors- The team of Punjab Warriors is a Jalandhar based franchise and is owned by the Jaypee Group. Jamie Dwyer is the captain and Barry Dancer is the Head coach of the team. Surjeet Hockey Stadium has been chosen as the home ground.

Ranchi Rhinos- It is owned by the Patel Uniexel Group and is based in the city of Ranchi. Gregg Clark has been assigned as the coach of Ranchi Rhinos and Moritz Furste is the team captain. Astroturf Hockey Stadium has been allotted as its home ground.

Uttar Pradesh Wizards- This team is based Lucknow city and has been purchased by the Sahara India Pariwar. Roelant Oltmans is the head coach of the franchise and V.R. Raghunath serves as the team captain. Dhyan Chand Astroturf Stadium is the home ground of Uttar Pradesh Wizards.

Players of Hockey India League (HIL)
Each franchise of the Hockey India League (HIL) consists of 24 hockey players including 14 Indian players and 10 international players. The auction for obtaining the hockey players was held in New Delhi on 16 December 2012. In all a total of 243 hockey players were offered in the Hockey India League auction which included 152 were Indian Hockey players and 91 were international players. Out of all the players, 70 local players and 50 foreigners were bought. The hockey players who participated in the auction were provided the right to select their base price that consists of four slabs.

Teun de Nooijer became the highest paid hockey player of 2013 Hockey India League. He was purchased by the franchise Uttar Pradesh Wizards. Sardar Singh became the highest paid Indian hockey player and was bought by the team of Delhi Wave.

Jamie Dwyer (Australian) and Sardar Singh (Indian) were announced as the brand ambassadors of the tournament. Later Teun de Nooijer, who is the three time International Hockey Federation (FIH) World Player of the Year, was made the third brand ambassador of the league.

Rules of Hockey India League (HIL)
Five franchisee-based teams will participate in the competition and each of the teams will take part in three matches against each team. One of the matches will be played in their home ground and one match in the home ground of the rival team. The final match will be played against the other four teams, two at home and two away.

The wining team in the league phase of the tournament will be awarded 5 points. In case of a draw, both teams will be given 2 points. If a team loses with goal difference of 2 or less goals then it will be granted 1 point and if the loss is with goal difference of 3 or more goals, then the losing team will not receive any points.

In case, two or more teams have equal number of points at the conclusion of the league, then these teams will be ranked in the following manner-
• Respective number of matches won;
• Respective goal difference (goals for fewer goals against). A positive goal difference will take precedence over a negative goal difference;
• Respective number of goals scored;
• The cumulative results of the 2 matches played between those 2 teams taking firstly the points won in the 2 matches; secondly the goal difference; and finally the number of goals scored

Venues of Hockey India League (HIL)
Five venues have been chosen for 2013 Hero Hockey India League. These venues have been appointed as the home grounds for each team. These are listed as follows-
• Mahindra Hockey Stadium, Mumbai
• Astroturf Hockey Stadium, Ranchi
• Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
• Dhyan Chand Astroturf Stadium, Lucknow
• Surjeet Hockey Stadium, Jalandhar

The semi-finals and the final match of 2013 Hockey India League will be played at Astroturf Hockey Stadium in Ranchi in the Indian state of Jharkhand.