Building a Multi-Sport Nation

Part 1: Growth of a multi-sport nation

Article 1 of the Constitution states that ‘India shall be a union of states’. This applies even to
sports. India is not a homogenous republic rather it has 29 different cultures blended into
one. People of different states have different level of passion and interest for different sports.
One cannot expect the same level of passion and interest for Kabaddi in Goa as in Haryana
and vice versa for Football. The people of Punjab may not embrace Badminton as much as
Andhra residents and the reverse is true for Hockey. In short, each state in India has its own
favourite sport and there cannot be a homogenous solution for such a heterogeneous
country. Except maybe when it comes to Cricket, but to get to that level, other sports have to
chart their own path.
IPL’s popularity amongst masses needs no introduction or statistics. It has been the
country’s favourite past time during April-May every year for the last decade. However, what
is surprising is that even state leagues such as Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) and
Karnataka Premier League (KPL) have got people addicted, managed to get broadcasted
over cable, brought in big sponsors and even feature on fantasy apps such as Dream 11.

According to a research conducted in metropolitan cities, covering more than 6,000 people,
awareness of the Indian Premier League is the highest at 88%. Pro Kabaddi League
followed at 67%, Hockey India League at 46%, the Indian Super League (football) at 35%
and the Premier Badminton League at 27%. According to the research, the biggest reason
for watching the Indian Premier League (IPL) is the format, with love of cricket coming
second. Even for the Pro Kabaddi League, the format is the top reason why people say they
watch the games.

Our proposed strategic plan combines the cliché ‘building the base at grass root level’ and
the idea of starting different state leagues for different sports in different states, partnering
with corporates and sports companies and state governments, with possible budgetary and
logistical support by central government.
Some of the proposed leagues:
 Haryana Kabaddi League  Andhra Badminton League
 Punjab Hockey League  Kerala Volleyball League
 Goa Football League  Manipur Sepak Takraw League
 West Bengal Football League  Rajasthan Polo League
 Assam Football League  Odisha Archery League
And so on…
How it will work: Let’s say a Haryana Kabaddi League (HKL) is started by the Haryana
state government, sponsored by a company making pain relief gels. There might be teams
from different districts, each with own sponsors, and a group of international, national and
local sportsmen. There can be the usual fanfare of a player auction, pre-launch events and
so on. This kind of a competition will attract huge crowds as Kabaddi is prevalent in each
nook and corner of the state.
Role of private sports companies and corporates: Private sports companies and
corporates will be co-sponsors of the leagues and will bring in the money. Why would they?
Because these leagues will target specific audiences who live and breathe that particular
sport. Private sports companies will have to work on local infrastructure. Some of the basic
infrastructure may already be present even in remotest of villages of these states due to the
popularity of their respective sport, but the sports companies will have to lend a professional
touch. They will have to bring in coaches, trainers, medical staff, do pitch/ ground
management, organize talent camps, employ scouts for identifying potential players in
villages and different towns and so on. They would be the key stakeholder in this strategic
plan, who will have to do most of the early leg work and investment but once the league in a
particular state gets up and running, they will reap long term rewards.
Role of Government: Needless to say, the role of state governments will be more important
than the central government. The state governments will have to be actively involved in
leasing out the stadiums and other logistics and also providing budgetary support. The
central government may have to incentivize the state governments initially by sharing some
of the financial burden. Each of the sports authorities will have to make available coaches
and training staff. Though the government has started to take initiatives for building India as
multi-sport nation but have to go far ahead. The ‘Khelo India’ programme has been
introduced by the government to revive the sports culture in India at the grass-root level by
building a strong framework for all sports played in our country and establish India as a great
sporting nation. ‘Delhi Gramin Khel Mahotsav’ 2017 was organized in Delhi in association
with Delhi Government to invite the talent from rural areas of Delhi.
Grass root level participation and mass connect: The proposed solution is unique as it
targets specific audience who have interest in a particular sport and are likely to passionately
engage with it throughout the year. This will result in the masses connecting with the league,
resulting in year-round engagement, managed by private sports companies.
Part 2: Using the power of digital

The number of people with internet enabled smartphones is expected to grow to 690 million
by 2020. That is more than the population of all but 2 countries in the World. If the above
strategic plan is implemented, it will grab the attention of local audiences who can be
targeted through various digital marketing campaigns. Some of the proposed campaigns are
explained below.
The above state specific, sport specific leagues will run for approximately two months in a
year. During those two months, preview shows, actual matches, review shows, highlights,
fan opinions etc. can be run on various digital channels like cable television, OTT platforms,
fantasy apps, social media channels etc. These will provide 24 hour communication links
between the sport league and the audience, feeding them each and every aspect of the
league, be it actual matches, players, coaches, behind the scene strategies, player auctions,
transfers and trades etc. During those two months, the audience will have multiple choices to
not just watch the sports, but be a part of it through these channels. To complement these
digital touch points, there can be offline events such as road shows, rallies, fan interviews
etc.
The more challenging part is to maintain fan engagement during the remaining 10 months
when the league is not running. We propose the following marketing plans, which would be
first accessed through digital channels, and later through face-to-face meetings or other
offline mediums:
 Spend a day with your superstar: Fans will have to upload a short 30 second clip
as to why they deserve to meet their favourite superstar. They can upload these clips
on social media channels, OTT platforms etc. End to end, such a competition is likely
to keep the fans engaged for more than a month.

 Super Commentator: It is very likely that local fans would have followed their
favourite sport for decades and would have far greater knowledge about it than
generic commentators. This opportunity will give them a chance to audition for being
commentators for their sport league. It could start with applicants uploading sample
audio clips on social media, OTT and then live auditions being held along with other
famous commentators for the sport. This competition is likely to last for several
months with digital clip submissions and auditions alone engaging fans for a long
time.

 Trophy tour: During the season break, the winner’s trophy could be toured through
the state, making stops at all major cities whose teams participate in the league.
These could be telecasted live on cable or OTT platforms, with social media
channels being used for creating publicity.

 Mini tourneys during trophy tours: During the above trophy tours, there could be
mini tournaments and contests of the same sport, organised at school or college
levels, with the incentive for the winners to receive miniature replicas of the actual
trophies. This will build community participation in the states and generate even
greater interest in the sport leagues. Registrations for the tournaments, live matches
and post-match interviews etc. could be shown on cable and OTT. Thus, in this way
it will create a passion and interest in students for that particular sport.

 Affiliate leagues/ youth leagues: Affiliate leagues could be started for short periods
in different cities, which would help in (i) scouting talent, (ii) building grass root level
market base for the sport, (iii) motivate others to follow the main league. This
 engagement will keep the whole state engaged with that particular sport league for
months at a time. Again, cable, OTT channels and social media platforms could be
used for keeping the audiences engaged.

 Fantasy leagues: Fantasy leagues for the sport leagues could be started on apps.
Currently, most of the fantasy apps in India provide competitions only for Cricket or
Football, or to some extent NBA. Customized modules could be rolled out for each
sport league, thus drawing users from all parts of the country.

These are some of the marketing plans we have, for keeping the fan base engaged in the
strategic plan developed and discussed in part 1 of this report. These plans are expected to
involve the fans with the state leagues throughout the year and also build a strong base at
grass root level. Whether it’s the change in the mind-set of people or shift in the dimension of
sporting ecosystem, India definitely has a lot more to offer in years to come & is moving
towards emerging as a multi-sporting nation.