NEW DELHI: India is on the cusp of a major breakthrough in sports, and this is today a business in which there is real opportunity to make money out of, provided certain critical factors are addressed.
This was the central point highlighted during a high powered discussion during the key session of the day-long National Conference on Business of Sports, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
Ayaz Memon, respected Editor and commentator, who chaired the session – Building a profitable sports enterprise – introduced the discussion by raising the point that higher disposable income means money will flow into leisure and entertainment, of which sport is an integral part. Memon noted that for countries like India that had higher ambitions of making its presence felt among the comity of nations, the realisation had to be internalised that “soft power”, derived from creative endeavours built around culture and sport, were in many ways as important, if not more influential in impact terms, as economic and military might.
Bringing in an international perspective, Memon asked Adrian Wright, Sales & Marketing director and board member, West Bromwich Albion Football Club, to offer a view on how Premiership sides such as his viwed the Indian sports opportunity. “Seeing as India has the highest year-on-year growth in EPL viewership of any market in the world, it is not surprising that all Premiership clubs are focused on growing their engagement with consumers in the country,” Wright noted.
“Specific to West Bromwich, we have a significant population from the Indian subcontinent in our city so that provides an added impetus to our efforts to grow the club’s presence here,” he pointed out.
Queried as to how the club was directly engaging with the Indian consumer, Wright pointed out, “The focus of our activities here are tied in to grassroots development.”
Representing the IPL owners, Raghu Iyer, CEO, Rajasthan Royals noted: “The long term health and by extension profitability of any sporting enterprise can only be guaranteed if the promoters address the interests of all stakeholders.
“And central to this supposition is the sporting fan, who in India is the most neglected. There is way too little attention paid to his/her needs to ensure the fan experience a pleasant one.”
As far as the question of whether the multiple leagues that are coming up or have come up in the wake of the success of the Indian Premier League is a good thing, the answer to that is an “emphatic yes”, Iyer asserted.
“When assessing the success or otherwise of these new leagues there has to be perspective. Just as it is unfair to assess the IPL, which is a seven-year old enterprise, to some of the more established gobal leagues that have been around for far longer, it is not correct to draw comparisons between the IPL, which is an established product, and these new entities.”
Vivek Singh, joint managing director, Procam International introduced a cautionary note when he said, “When it comes to these new leagues, it is important that certain fundamentals are addressed, otherwise I am not sure how successful these leagues will be in the long run.
“One essential, in my view, is passion and connect with the common man (read fan). Then there are stakeholders who take the plunge and invest in these leagues. I don’t know how much the stakeholders are getting out of these leagues and whether they will remain invested 10 years down the line.”
Asked by Memon to outline the key elements that had worked for Procam as far as pioneering the distance running movement in the country was concerned, Singh kept it simple.
“If I were to take the example of the marathon, the reason it has been so successful and is today arguably the fastest growing participatory sport in the country can be encaspulated into one mantra. Which is that everybody associated with the marathon is able to take something out of it.”
Memon then directed his attention at Mustafa Ghouse, COO of JSW Bengaluru FC, the corporate team that was playing its first season in the I-League.
Queried as to why India’s IT hub had been chosen as the home base for his team’s debut in the top tier of Indian club football, Ghouse said, “Why Bangalore? Our flagship steel plant is in Karnataka so that forms an immediate connect. Then there is the fact that the state has long had I-League presence because of institutional sides like HAL. So Bangalore made eminent sense as a home base.
“As for our experience in what is our inaugural season in the I-League, it has far exceeded all our expectations. Whether it be fan support or even merchandise sales, the response has been a really pleasant surprise in more ways than one.”
Speaking on a more general note, Amrit Mathur, former COO, GMR Sports (owners f IPL franchise Delhi Daredevils) & advisor, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India opined, “This is really the moment for sports. Sports is cool today. There is a huge opportunity waiting to be exploited. We are on the cusp of a major breakthrough in sports.”
Have the IPL teams achieved profitability?, was the “million dollar question” posed to Iyer.
“This is a business that you can make money out of. From an operating perspective, the IPL is definitely a robust model. The real killing, however, will come from valuations,” he clarified.
Mathur was not quite so gung-ho however. “Despite six seasons of the IPL, all teams have failed on merchandising. So that remains a challenge,” Mathur pointed out.
Singh had the last word though when he noted, “What we are not hearing out here is of the sporting bodies, the federations, BCCI being the honourable exception, of investing back in the game. I think that will be one of the huge dimensions that will be a renewable value creator. It can’t be left to team owners and franchises and sponsors to grow the sport.”
