SNATCHING defeat from the jaws of victory has been the underlying theme of the CWG Delhi 2010, at least until the successful Opening Ceremony, and the consequent level of competition and organization of the event itself. However, without raining any further on the CWG Delhi 2010’s parade, one should also keep in mind that the way things turned out, Delhi 2010 is far from the ideal example of how a global event ought to be planned, organized. Business opportunities from a revenue and branding perspective were squandered away due to the complete lack of a unified front, and last minute preparations/uncertainty.
From a branding standpoint, there is very little, if any, brand value that the Delhi 2010 games and its logo, mascot, or star athletes have generated. Sports events globally attract sponsorships and other sources of revenue/income with a somewhat limited appetite for risk. Delhi 2010 in terms of sponsorship revenue generated, has fallen well short of the most conservative estimates, despite retaining an international and formerly successful sports marketing firm to front end this pivotal aspect. Barring the Indian private and public sector partners who treated CWG Delhi 2010 as a matter of nationalistic pride and responsibility, the Organizing Committee (“OC”) was able to generate little else from any of the traditional revenue earners in such events- largely due to the uncertainty surrounding the games, and of course the question marks around the brand value and wholesomeness of the event itself-literally until the last moment.
The Delhi 2010 games are of course our national pride, and as far as the future potential for the business of sports in India goes, the games could end up being a godsend. However, they are far from an unqualified success, and have bled opportunities away. These are lessons that future sports events conducted/organized in India must learn from and not repeat- the blueprint for how such events must not be organized or conducted, from an ROI standpoint. In all fairness, one must cut the CWG 2010 some slack, as it’s truly the first such global event that India has hosted, and has also been faced with unprecedented challenges. However, the sports industry globally is competitive, and in future, sports events hosted in India will have no such leniency when looked at from a investment or sponsorship standpoint, so it would be prudent to make this a case study for how not to drive away revenues and sponsorships.
Generating gate revenues in India has traditionally been difficult, since the entire concept of live events is a nascent one. However, there can be no explaining away how the OC has barely managed to sell approximately nine lakh tickets worth just Rs 32 crore. It’s an open secret that in all the major stadiums, at least 30 per cent of the seats lie vacant, and of the occupied seats, there is little clarity on how many of those are paid for, as opposed to complimentary passes. On an average, 20-30 per cent of the tickets per stadium are saved for members of the media, sponsors, and complimentary passes for distinguished and undistinguished luminaries. However, this isn’t just Delhi 2010’s bane- IPL and other popular events hosted in India have also faced this immense challenge and barrier to increasing revenues.
Another aspect that has crawled under the radar is that many cultural activities and events planned around the CWG 2010 have suffered. Collateral events such as the cultural festivals across the NCR are running on empty due to uncertainty surrounding security, traffic, and also the inability to brand and market these landmark events. While it’s hard to point the finger of blame per se, yet if the games had been better planned and managed, these high quality and high caliber events would been able to generate much deserved interest, attendance, and of course, revenues. Sponsorship and events circling around performance and pride have been seriously curbed due to the poor publicity, the time taken to prepare for the games themselves, and the complete lack of a trial run pre-games. Similarly, hospitality, f&b, and other such collateral events were unable to take advantage of any influx of tourism or promotional activities since once again the city was ill-prepared for pre-games marketing and publicity blitzes.
The biggest loss however, for the games, the athletes, and the private sector, was the complete lack of branding, merchandising, and focused marketing and advertising campaigns geared towards emerging sports, and established Indian stars. The Delhi 2010 Games have been virtually unable to utilize the CWG-branded merchandise or other premium products. This is a big loss not only in terms of revenues, but also brand value and recognition in future. Future events in India must take into account the need to exploit all rights associated with Intellectual Property Rights owned by the event organizers, so as to ensure some sort of viability and sustainability from a positive perception, branding, and of course, return on investment standpoint. It’s a travesty that during the Delhi 2010 games, there were very few if any athlete centric advertisements or campaigns, despite the fact that many of the participating athletes would have been extremely cost efficient from a branding perspective for any sponsor or endorser, and would also have generated significant traction from a positive public perception standpoint.
The fact is, the haphazard manner of the games’ organization has led to a serious loss in revenue not just for the OC, but also for the NCR, which should have been able to avail of these opportunities. Sponsorship of the games themselves was not only lacking due to the widespread negative perception, but also because one wasn’t sure what the games would turn out to be. We cannot make such mistakes in future, or these games would have been for naught. While the infrastructure should look at private public partnerships for long term sustainability, in future there should also be far more professionalism in terms of marketing, rights exploitation, and of course, in approaching and closing sponsorship deals not just from Indian sponsors/corporates, but also from sponsors or corporates whose countries are participating in the particular event in India. These are lessons that India must learn from what has become a red standard on how not to prepare for a global multi-discipline sports event. Image is everything, as is the reliability and positive branding associated with such events. These are lessons India must learn from and avail of as it enters the next generation of sports, and looks at becoming a hub, destination, and contender for the very best the global sports industry has to offer.
