Growth of non-cricket sports may be a long haul

CONTRIBUTION OF NON-CRICKET SPORTS TO TOTAL SPORTS REVENUE IS AROUND 15%

Vinit Karnik, head of media agency Groupm’s division that straddles entertainment, e-sports and sports, is hard to rile even if you oppose his view that India’s sports industry is not j ust about cricket. Karnik has been tracking the sports industry for a decade and publishing his findings in an annual report on India’s burgeoning business of sports. The report analyses trends from the perspective of sponsorships, athlete endorsements and media spends by brands. Every year, Karnik claims that non-cricket sports (football, kabaddi, badminton, hockey et al) are also emerging though their contribution to the total sports revenue hovers around 15%. The latest report released on Tuesday shows that emerging sports revenue declined by a marginal 1% (to Rs 2,065 crore) in 2023 over 2022 while cricket revenue grew 13% in the same period.

Ask Karnik why non-cricket sports is still a tiny business contrary to his claims, he says comparing emerging sports to cricket is not the right way to look at the business. “Sports was a Rs 2,400 crore business in 2008 when Indian Premier League (IPL) started. Today, our sports industry stands at Rs 15,766 crore of which cricket enjoys 87% share. Non-cricket sports have also grown as the pie has grown,” he says.

India’s sports industry has grown at 13.2% year on year. “A lot of work goes unnoticed since we are so large and diverse,” he says. India has hosted two ODI World Cups and a T20 World Cup. It also held the Motogp Bharat (bike racing) last year and the Under-17 FIFA World Cup in 2017.

The past few years have seen Indian athletes break fresh ground -- like Neeraj Chopra’s track and field gold at the Olympics, the Thomas Cup win in badminton, the rich medal haul at the Asian Games and the records in sports like wrestling, boxing, shooting etc.

“These wins are the consequences of a fast-blossoming sports culture in our country which will have reflections in the tremendous advances we have made in the commercialization of sports too,” the report said.

The government and private enterprises, too, are doing their bit to promote non-cricketing sports. “Government is increasing the sports budget by 30% year on year. It leads the Khelo India programme which starts at the school and college level to build trust and confidence in promoting sports. It launched the Fit India movement for people like you and me who are not professionals,” Karnik adds.

Additionally, companies like Reliance, JSW, Adani and Tatas are all supporting different sports and athletes through their foundations. “It’s resulted in an increase in medal tallies and improved performance of our athletes on the world stage. So, I look at this business from this lens and not the narrow lens of emerging sports’ revenue contribution alone,” Karnik says.

He agrees that no other league has been able to replicate the success of IPL because cricket is religion here. “We have a cricket history of more than 40 years. World over, sports is a business that builds value over time. I am not denying that cricket enjoys 87% revenue share while at 13%, emerging sports revenue is very small. For the 13% to become 20%- 25% will take time,” he says.

Sports marketing professional Indranil Das Blah says that non-cricket sports will rise if they have national icons like Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni in cricket. “We have Neeraj Chopra today but we need more stars in other sports. They need to tick many more boxes before other sports truly emerge and that’s a long haul,” he says.

However, he believes that non-cricket sports pie will grow since the government has realized the soft power of sports. “This is why it wants to bid for hosting the 2036 Olympics,” he adds.

While the emerging sports economy will take time to sprint, cricket will continue to grow and remain bigger, Karnik says. “From a sponsorship standpoint, emerging sports is around Rs 1,528 crore while cricket is over Rs 7,000 crore. In some years, cricket growth rates may plateau but it will still remain the largest sport in India,” he says.

A new Ormax Sports Audience Report estimates India’s sports audience base at 678 million. Cricket, football and kabaddi are the top three sports, with an audience base of 612, 305 and 208 million respectively, it said.