'Broadcasters' belief in leagues led to the rise of indigenous sports like kabaddi'

At the inaugural edition of e4m and GroupM ESP Let's Play: Sports Marketing Summit- Shaping the Future of Sports Business, Vita Dani, Co-Owner, Chennaiyn FC and UTT spoke about the Rise of Challenges of Non-Cricket Sports in India in her keynote address.

According to Dani, only a collaborative effort at the grass root level with the help of media, Central and State Governments, corporate sponsors and broadcasters will launch Indian sports to its next phase.

The Indian Olympic contingents brought back seven medals in 2021; Dani believes that this is only the starting point for the country. “It's not a short-term aim, it takes 10 years for any player to really mature. So there's a lot of potential of young people of India, the tech-savvy, the passionate young India that wants to give back to the society.”

Dani mentioned that India will host the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) session in 2023 after almost 39 years. She pointed out that the games are not only about building physical infrastructure but also identifying talent from rural India from the real grassroots all across the country. "It's all about encouraging people to play one or multiple sports,” she emphasised. Dani also noted that sports have the power to amalgamate the diversity of India and integrate India and Bharat.

She believes that the Khelo India program is a testament to the Narendra Modi government's commitment to and support for sports. In the last five years, India has hosted a maximum number of global sporting events including the historic Chess Olympiad in Chennai, which witnessed the participation of 187 countries. Dani believes that this can be replicated in many other sports. “If you look at the Hockey World Cup- currently ongoing in Odisha, international athletes and sports associations enjoy coming to India and I'm glad that we have successfully embodied the sense of Atithi Devo Bhava as part of our sports initiative.”

Speaking about inclusivity and diversity in sports, Dani is confident that it will bring more consumers and sponsors since there will be more consumption. “Today I don't think there is enough CSR money coming into sports. But CSR contribution can go up if we see value-based self-development, be it in grassroots or elite sports, philanthropy can keep medal prospects and pursuits. This lays emphasis on the importance of sport science and medicine.”

She also spoke about women's contribution to Indian sports. “Once again, data shows that women have won more medals for our country be it PV Sindhu for badminton or Manika Batra for table tennis as key members of the athlete commission Lovlina Borgohain for boxing. Women are also playing a role in defining the course of sports globally.”

She said that India's appetite for multi-sport events is clear. The Olympics, the Asian Games, the Commonwealth Games, as well as multiple sports leagues helped pique the interest of not only sports fans, but also brand marketers. As fans choose their sports, brands have also chosen or identified sports they'd like to support and be associated with. “One such story is also about Apollo Tyres and football," she pointed out. 

As per CII and KPMG report, sponsorship of values have seen a 300% rise in Kabaddi, 92% in Football, and 53% in Marathon.

“The number of sporting leagues have followed suit after the advent of the IPL in 2008. Sporting leagues inject the ecosystem of sports with professionalism, exposure, competitiveness, and economic boost," she said.

She also spoke about UTT which was conceptualized by her a few years ago. The idea was to do precisely the same for Indian table tennis, she said.

“The starting point was to make noise and boost fanfare around the sport rather than focusing just on economics. But of course, having said that, we actually run our league in a cost-effective manner in order to encourage participation not only from the franchisees but also from the broadcasters and brands. So our primary objective is to bring world-class table tennis action to India on a regular basis and familiarize Indian paddlers to sport fans in our country," Dani explained. 

She also went on to praise the role of "fantastic broadcasters" that believe in sport for its growth. “If broadcasters did not believe in the power of such leagues, we would have never seen an indigenous sport like Kabaddi go through such an exponential rise that it has in the last few years.”

She also spoke about the emergence of e-sports. “eSports is a big part of the future. Here we have to target five to ten-year-old kids and the data available has democratized access to this young India. We can be leaders or pioneers in these emerging areas.”