Sports Consumption and Growing the Sporting Ecosystem was the subject in Session 10 of the RevSportz Trailblazer Conclave 2.0. Igor Stimac, Anil Singh, MVS Murthy and Raghav Gupta were the speakers. The moderators were Boria Majumdar and Agnijit Sen.
It was an interesting subject looking at the perspective of the fans, who make any sport what it is. If they don’t consume or watch or travel, cricket or football will stop being this popular. The speakers were unanimous that serious sports consumption is on the up.
Gupta is the founder of Fanatic Sports, a sports and entertainment company. “For the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in 2014, we had three clients. We took three persons to Bangladesh. In the 2019 World Cup in England, we had 16,000 clients. People in India are travelling for sports. Spending is no longer limited to cars or jewelleries. Sports is becoming part of lifestyle,” said Gupta.
Murthy is from Federal Bank, which supports badminton star HS Prannoy and Anju Bobby George’s athletics academy. “As a brand, you can be like a sticker by sponsoring an event. You can also want to go deeper and support activities in the grassroots. Going by the overall mood in the country when it comes to sports, I can say that our association with sports will continue.”
Anil Singh is a major figure in India when it comes to marathons. Influential in starting the Mumbai Marathon, he sees a change in the way this activity is received these days. “In their own small circles —be it family, friends or office colleagues — marathon runners are celebrities. They are heroes. Look at that for a change in the way sports is consumed in India.”
Stimac, the Croatian coach of the Indian football team, said it feels great to see fans backing the players. However, as a coach, he doesn’t have a lot of time for adulations. “It’s beautiful when the fans celebrate our success. But as coaches, we don’t have time for that. We can’t enjoy the euphoria. Nor can we remain frustrated after setbacks. Such things can’t disturb our process. But yes, support is good for the game.”