AS THE CLOCK winds down on what has been a momentous year for Indian sport, some observations.
The abiding legacy of 2017 in football will remain India successfully staging the U-17 World Cup at six venues from October 6 to 28.
India shattered the record for largest attendance at the U-17 World Cup, with 1,347,143 spectators attending the event. The country now has six stadiums of international standards available for use for India’s top tier tournaments and the expectation is that in the next five years at least six more will be in place, whether or not India wins its bid to host the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2019.
The Asian Football Confederation recognised the Indian Super League, setting the ball rolling for the coronation in 2018 of the ISL as the country’s top tier league. While no one can argue against the development, except out of a sense of nostalgia, the fact remains that long term sustenance of the ISL project is intrinsically linked to Indian football following the blue print of leagues across the world where promotion / relegation is the norm.
In the immediate term however, ISL promoters Football Sports Development Ltd have addressed a major concern around most leagues in India – that they are merely tournaments masquerading as leagues. The induction of two teams backed by strong corporate houses – the Tata and JSW groups – making the ISL a 10-team league, and increasing its duration to five months in the 2017/18 season and plans to make it seven months thereafter, shows FSDL has clarity on where it is headed.
No surprises then that the Star India owned Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), the second most popular league in India after the IPL in terms of television ratings, also “went long”, expanding into a 12-team affair spread over four months.
In both the PKL and ISL, the critical element of increased duration means increased fan engagement has therefore been addressed.
In the media and entertainment arena, Star India outbid all comers, including incumbent Sony Pictures Networks India, in September for the global broadcasting and digital media rights of the lndian Premier League (IPL) for the next five years with a consolidated bid of Rs 163.475 billion ($2.55 billion).
A more ambitious and clear cut vision, more so on the digital front with Star’s OTT platform Hotstar being intrinsic to the bidding strategy, is what won the the 21st Century Fox subsidiary the most valuable annual property in the Indian media firmament.
Star’s acquisition of the IPL rights could well have been the clincher for what was to come in December with Disney buying out most of 21st Century Fox (including Star) in a deal worth $52.4 billion, marking the most significant consolidation in the media and entertainment sector globally in 2017.
It bears noting that even before the deal was made official, Disney had already announced plans to unveil two streaming services: one focused on sports that will begin next year and another focused on entertainment that will become available in 2019.
All of which makes for a whole new set of dynamics to consider going forward into 2018.
As for the rest of it, it was about new leagues entering the arena while others fell off the map. Expect more of the same there in 2018 as well.
