The sports entertainment revolution unleashed by The Indian Premier League(IPL) is now spilling over into football, badminton, tennis and distance running. A recent venture between international sports group IMG and Reliance Industries has begun the bidding process for eight city-based franchises of the India Super League in football; Mahesh Bhupathi’s International Premier Tennis League has already signed up Rafael Nadal, the World No. 1 to play in a unique team format in November this year. The Indian Badminton League featuring the likes of Saina Nehwal and Jwala Gutta completed its inaugural edition in the Hockey India League (HIL) which has, quite successfully finished two seasons.
Mohit Burman, the 42-year -old director and scion of the `6,000 crore Dabur Group, now calls himself a serial sports entrepreneur. Having whetted his appetite with a part ownership of the Preity Zinta-led Kings XI Punjab in the IPL, Burman has bought up the Mumbai Magicians, a team in the HIL. He also prides owning the Pune team in the International Badminton League. “Cricket is universal in term of patronage so we wanted to support some of the other sports and nurture local talent. Given the right impetus, sports like hockey, which are on the backburner, can come up,” says Burman.
Speaking of numbers, the impact of the IPL on the sports marketing business has been significant. A recent report by sports consultancy Group M says advertising spends on sports nearly doubled to `4,100 crore in 2013 from `2,139 crore in 2008 (when the first edition of the IPL was held). It has also opened up new opportunities for others. In fact, Group M says it expects advertising spends to increase by 20-25 per cent annually for the next three years in sports like football, distance running, motorsports and golf.
Burman’s own investments in sports echo the trend of cricket accounting for the lion’s share, estimated at around 85 per cent, of the total pie. As per his franchise model, Burman invests `30 crore over seven years in King XI, `6 crore in his football team and `3 crore in his badminton team.
Burman isn’t the only emerging sports entrepreneur. Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan, owner of the Kolkata Knight Riders, rumoured to be one of the few profitable IPL franchises has publicly declared his intent to buy the Kolkata football team in the IMG-Reliance promoted super league – if the price is right. Interested in the same team is actor and producer John Abraham, who also owns a stake in the hockey franchise Delhi Wave Riders.
An IMG-Reliance spokesperson said that The Indian Super League, which Nita Ambani is personally overseeing, would be the next big thing in domestic sport. “It will offer Indian players greater global exposure and eventually help India qualify for the 2026 World Cup. Although the youth keenly follows football leagues from across the world, they don’t connect with Indian football,” the spokesperson adds. The partners expect that the heady combo of IMG, Reliance and Star TV, and India’s nearly 90 million football viewership will draw fans. But, football has a long way to go. In 2013, the on-ground spend was `14.2 crore in football compared to `508 crore on cricket. Even distance running fared better with spends at `42 crore.
But direct revenues may not be the only business model for the promoters. Reliance, which is getting ready to roll out its unified telecom service Jio, is looking to create compelling content to lure subscribers. SportzPower, an international sports news portal, commented in the recent Group M report that, “Mukesh Ambani’s ambitions around sport are gradually being unfolded and in terms of scale and ambition, they are huge.” It added that Reliance Jio might follow strategy similar to BT, the UK-based Telecom Company which acquired English Premier League rights and broke Sky TV’s traditional monopoly.
And, advertisers are already signing up. Corporates like Nokia said they spend around 10-12 per cent of their sponsorship budgets on sports. Pepsico India’s EVP Homi Battiwalla says: “At Pepsi, we feel football is emerging in India like never before. Going forward, cricket and football will both co-exist in our marketing calendar.” Vivek Mathur, Chief Commercial Officer at Vodafone India notes: “Changing demography and lifestyles have led to strong following for other sports like football, tennis, hockey and badminton and this offers Vodafone a very effective, large scale platform to connect with its customers.”
Vishal Jaison, director, sales and business development at consultancy firm, Total Sports Asia, believes that whether it’s the International Badminton League, Hockey India League or the Indian Super League, they are all following the IPL model. There will be consumption from sponsors and viewership. “Hockey is our national game, and we have a cherished history of great achievements and great players. While the pride for the game still lives on, we need to re-build the mass interest in the game”, notes Pawan Munjal, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Hero MotoCorp.
Distance running or marathons is another sport that has caught the fancy of India Inc. Vivek Singh, joint managing director of Procam, the organisers of the Mumbai Marathon and the TCS Bangalore 10K, confirms there are about 100 different events in distance running in a year.
Currently, marathons garner around `100 crore in sponsorship and Singh explains that companies want to connect with the passion for running. In fact, Tata Consultancy Services recently signed an 8-year multi-million dollar deal to sponsor the world’s biggest marathon, the New York City Marathon.
Another high-profile entrant will be Mahesh Bhupathi’s Asian tennis tour, where an estimated $24 million has been spent with top players like Nadal earning a million each day. This compares well to Yuvraj Singh who was bought by Vijay Mallya’s IPL team for $2.31 million (`14 crore) for the entire season. Says Bhupathi: “I would be very happy if it went the IPL way but there is a long way to go. Our revenue model includes franchisees, central sponsors and TV rights. It is an exciting platform for tennis. The best men and women will play along with legends.”