Try as one might, it?s difficult to be passionate about cricket in the aftermath of what has been the most triumphant period in Indian cricket history. For most fans, India?s World Cup 2011 victory acted as the culmination of what all had dared to dream, but few had hoped to accomplish. An IPL IV that, for the most part, was somewhat ill-timed didn?t help matters either. And only die-hard fans could muster the stamina to follow the tour of the West Indies. The UK tour is coming up now. But there is very little that cricket can now do to really set the entire nation?s pulse racing in an epiphany of patriotism. Cricket fatigue has well and truly set in. And, the bad news is that the cricket calendar continues unabated with a mixed bag of sanctioned tours along with the various T20 league offshoots in the near future. Add to this the till now ineffectual and, at times, yawn-inducing Champions League T20, and the packed calendar is set to exhaust the limited interest levels of most avid and casual viewers.
A few years ago, this could have spelt doom for the Indian sports industry. But if one closely observes the developments and interest levels in sports other than cricket over the last few months in particular, then one can actually see the trickle-down effect into other professional sports leagues and international team events.
There are sports other than cricket that follow a business model dependent on viewership as opposed to participation. This is a boon for the business of sports in India, as our proficiency in most professional league-dominated sports is borderline mediocre. Two sports in particular stand out when it comes to bottom of the heap performances, both at the country level as well as the club level?football and basketball. Developing the culture and grassroots infrastructure in these two sports is a long-term prospect. With the introduction of professional initiatives in collaboration with national sports federations, grassroots development is likely to become a somewhat more systematic process.
Both the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) have entered into multi-year associations with IMG-Reliance. One hopes this will help professionalise the development of football and basketball in India, and promote the respective sports among the youth. For the AIFF, this is also expected to play a part in popularising and adding brand value to the domestic football league?the I-league. Thus far, the results have been mixed, with the escalating costs and lack of revenue generation leading to two venerable clubs?JCT and Mahindra?shutting shop. Both the clubs are focusing instead on youth development in football. BFI has more verticals in its pipeline, however. With the US?s National Basketball Association (NBA) making its presence felt through various initiatives, there is a clear cut progression towards popularising the sport of basketball in India. Mahindra incidentally has an initiative which has mobilised the youth basketball league culture in collaboration with NBA. Recently, it has also initiated a similar programme in football.
There is clearly a mandated progress towards building on youth interest in playing and excelling in these respective sports. However, this masks the fact that the success of these two sports lies in revenue models that extend beyond mere participation, and which doesn?t have a 10-15 year gestation period. These are spectator sports. With interest levels generated among legions of fans through international events, this is the perfect window of opportunity for competitors of cricket to avail of this trickle-down effect.
Indian sports fans today are sophisticated viewers. They are aware of team loyalties, they crave licensed merchandise and they bolster viewership ratings for events previously considered alien. The recently concluded NBA finals were followed closely by many despite the inconvenient time slots and the fact that the interest in the sport is so far purely from a viewership perspective. Even the media devoted page after page to the Cinderella story of the underdog Dallas Mavericks (led by the veteran German Dirk Nowitzki) running roughshod over the superstar prodigal sons of the Miami Heat?led by one of the most marketable yet maligned superstars in LeBron James, and his team of superstars?Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh.
The biggest beneficiary, however, ought to be football. Again, it is a sport where Indians have underachieved in a big way, but many are obsessed with the sport, even beyond the traditional pockets of Bengal, Goa and Kerala. The English Premier League (EPL), the Champions League (CL) and the FIFA events all have a sizeable fan base and viewership. Further, with more Indian entities investing in football clubs abroad and domestically, as well as a greater focus on bringing international caliber events to India, football could well be the backup toast of the town. And, there is a development involving Barcelona FC & the Spanish La Liga which blends nicely with the planned friendly game between Argentina and Venezuela in Kolkata later this year. With Lionel Messi and Carlos Tevez virtually guaranteed to play, and with the La Liga through Barcelona clearly indicating a focused effort towards promoting football in India, there is likely to be a huge push in India from Europe and South America. The potential of this is immeasurable.
Also keep an eye on hockey once (and if) the feuding subsides. There are numerous initiatives that can lead to professionalising the league culture. Most Indian fans have a soft spot for hockey, and given a value offering that is worthwhile, expect sponsors and fans alike to flock towards a professional hockey league and repopularise the sport itself.
The cricket juggernaut has whetted ones appetite for professional sports, ironically at the cost of undermining cricket?s own brand due to dilution. However, viewership sports stand to gain much from a merchandising, event, and broadcasting spurt over the next few years. Realistically, none of these are likely to replace cricket as the nation?s favorite sport. Not when we are at the top and set to consolidate our dominance with a battalion of talent and superstars. But, all these sports can avail of cricket-fatigue, and also of the whetted appetite for sports that cricket has created in the avid/casual Indian sports fan. Competition off the field of play will only improve the value offering for all the diverse stakeholders in the business of sports. Carpe diem.
The author is a sports attorney with J Sagar Associates. Views are personal