The U-Mumba franchise, which is owned by entrepreneur Ronnie Screwvala’s Unilazer Ventures, is considering moving its base out of Mumbai because of a lack of affordable venues in the city. 

Over the last five seasons, U-Mumba have played their home matches at the National Sports Club of India’s indoor arena called Dome in Worli. According to sources, NSCI is charging 25 lakhs per day to use Dome. At this rate, franchise would have to shell out Rs 2.5 crores to host matches for the upcoming season.

U-Mumba are in discussions with Andheri Sports Complex, but it doesn’t have large enough indoor facility to host Pro Kabaddi matches. One of the facilities U-Mumba is considering is Nasik’s Meenatai Thakre Indoor Stadium, which has a capacity of 2,000 with the option of adding another 500-odd seats and charges around Rs 15,000 per day, which means the franchise could end up saving Rs 2.48 crore across 10 days compared to NSCI.