Indian sports are on the cusp of change. Market driven forces are altering the scenario. Cricket’s lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL), despite several controversies, has provided the template for other sports to imitate.
Glamour, often provided by Bollywood celebrities owning franchise-based teams, slick marketing and television coverage and participation of renowned foreign stars are the ingredients needed to make a high visibility sporting event, mostly of a couple of months duration, successful.
The craze for short term sporting events like the glamorous franchise-based leagues has also increased because of two reasons.
The younger generation and middle class India are nauseated at the feudal set up, nepotism, factionalism and power politics of Indian sports, exemplified by the conflict of interest and abuse of power by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president N. Srinivasan or the inflated ego of Hockey India president Narender Batra who has needlessly pilloried the national coach, Terry Walsh, compelling him to return to Australia.
Hence national championships and traditional domestic tournaments, which sustained Indian sports for so many years, like the Durand Cup (third oldest football tournament in the world), Nehru hockey tournament in Delhi and the Beighton Cup hockey tournament in Kolkata, are struggling to get sponsors.
They have become low-key events and so public interest, and thereby media coverage, is waning.
Sports administrators conveniently make the media a scapegoat by claiming the focus is only on cricket. But the media is representing the demands of a new generation of viewers and readers, whose lifestyles have been impacted by globalisation.
The popularity of English and European football, NBA basketball and other international sports events is increasing rapidly with live telecasts of English Premier League (EPL) matches and all other major sports tournaments beamed in by satellite TV.
So supporting English clubs like Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal and taking interest in international sports rather than domestic tournaments reflects the growing self-consequence of contemporary India’s globalising elite.
The urban cosmopolitan youth have the desire and spending power to purchase the merchandise of leading foreign football clubs and join their global fan base.
It is this strata of India’s population that is attracted to short-term, high-visibility sporting events. There has been a shift in the sporting culture of metropolitan Indian youth of the mall-going middle and upper middle-class.
They want to identify with professionally-run sports leagues that have an international flavour and offer instant entertainment. The big money paid to the star players adds to the lustre.
In 2014, there was a boom of IPL copycat leagues. Five franchise-based leagues in three different sports started in India.
There was the Wave World Kabaddi League (prize money worth Rs 1.80 crores), the Pro-Kabaddi League (PKL), the Vijay Amrithraj conceived Champions Tennis League (CTL), Mahesh Bhupathi’s International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) and the much-hyped Indian Super League (ISL) with prize money worth Rs 15 crore.
The kabaddi leagues were a resounding success. Their ultimate success was that they became a visual spectacle, popular amongst rural and urban audiences.
The perception of kabaddi as a rural sport initially changed because filmstars were involved as owners and promoters.
But during the course of the Pro-Kabaddi event, urban viewers also started realising and appreciating the sheer athleticism, speed and tactics involved in the sport.
Anand Mahindra, co-promoter of Mashal Sports, the league organisers, feels that Pro-Kabaddi is India’s new sports revolution.
Big money (each of the eight franchises spent about Rs 35 crore- Rs 40 crore), cricket and Bollywood celebrities visiting the stadiums as owners, famous and some not so famous but highly capable foreign footballers from 15 different countries made the ISL a compelling spectacle.
The average attendance after 42 matches was about 24,000, which was way above the average of the J-League (17,000) and Australia League (18,000).
With the advent of the ISL, the corporatisation of Indian football has come about. Indian football, however, can only really benefit if the consortium-based franchises seriously implement grassroots programmes and develop good academies for future generations of players.
A new generation of fans has started watching Indian football as amenities in the stadiums have improved considerably.
Also, hosting of most matches under floodlights has helped as people can come and relax after office hours.
The general standard of Indian refereeing has also shown some improvement. The ISL provided Indian referees with simulation and anticipatory training.
The Indian players learnt by interacting with top-class professionals, their training methods, attitudes and dedication to the game. So the ISL has created all sorts of exciting possibilities for Indian football.
The ISL’s ultimate aim is to revolutionise Indian football. In five years from now, the ISL and existing I-League could merge.
The ISL also hopes to popularise football so as to get more people playing the sport. This is the professed aim of most franchise-based leagues.
The two different tennis leagues with their innovatory formats brought superstars like Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Pete Sampras, Serena Williams and former greats like Pat Cash and Martina Hingis to play on Indian soil.
However, this was more a business concept than the ISL, which is being supported by the AIFF as a way forward for football in India.
In 2013, the badminton league was organised but there has been no second edition due to financial loss. The 3rd edition of the Hero Hockey India League will be staged in January 2015.
The NBA, America’s basketball parent body, too has made a small start in terms of intra-city leagues for schools and colleges.
More sports, including fringe games like skate boarding ultra-marathons, are hoping to find a foothold in the lucrative Indian market.
The revenue streams for all these franchises are television deals and commercial sales. Many are yet to turn the corner financially.
But the process of change in Indian sports has begun. Will these leagues really make a difference or only provide entertainment and quick money to some? Only time will tell.
Novy Kapadia is a sports journalist, columnist and commentator
