Chennai

The entire 2024 season of the RuPay Prime Volleyball League powered by A23 is hosted at the SDAT multi-purpose indoor stadium in Chennai, the capital of India’s southernmost state Tamil Nadu.

The SDAT has a seating capacity of five thousand. It is part of a larger sports complex, which also includes the 40-thousand-seat outdoor Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, also known as the Marina Arena.

The city of Chennai, known as Madras until 1996, is located at the north-eastern corner of Tamil Nadu, on the Bay of Bengal coast. With a population of nearly seven million people, it is the sixth most populous city in India.

With temples, beaches and centres of historical and cultural significance, including the UNESCO Heritage Site of Mahabalipuram, Chennai is among the most visited Indian cities, ranking 36th among the most visited cities in the world in 2019. It regularly features among the best cities to live in India and is among the safest cities in the country.

Dubbed India's health capital, the city is a major centre for medical tourism. Chennai houses a major portion of India's automobile industry and is nicknamed "Detroit of India". It was the only southern Asian city to be ranked among National Geographic's Top 10 food cities in 2015 and ranked ninth on Lonely Planet's best cosmopolitan cities of the world. In October 2017, Chennai was added to the UNESCO Creative Cities Network list. It is a major film production centre and home to the Tamil-language film industry.

Chennai is also home to one of the franchises participating in the RuPay Prime Volleyball League powered by A23, Chennai Blitz. The city hosted the 1995 South Asian Games. It also organized the double-gender FIVB Chennai Challenger in beach volleyball in 2008 and 2010.

“Ever since its inception, we have always wanted to host an edition of the RuPay Prime Volleyball League in our city due to its rising popularity,” said Tamil Nadu Minister of Youth Welfare and Sports Development Shri Udhayanidhi Stalin. “Volleyball is a sport that is close to the people of Tamil Nadu and there is a huge amount of untapped potential present for the sport here. I extend a very warm welcome to all the participating teams and players from all around the world to our beautiful city and we truly believe that their presence here will not only help start a revolution in volleyball across the state of Tamil Nadu, but also inspire the next generation of athletes to think of a professional career in this sport.”

“Volleyball has an ever-growing presence in the southern regions and the passionate fans in Tamil Nadu have been clamouring to witness live matches for many years,” Joy Bhattacharjya, CEO of RuPay Prime Volleyball League powered by A23, added. “We are delighted to bring the latest edition of RuPay Prime Volleyball League powered by A23 to Chennai. We are thankful for the Tamil Nadu government for their blessings and support. Chennai has a huge volleyball fan base and we are confident they will be thrilled to witness the league, which will feature some of the top talent from India and abroad.”