Sports, Business and Society with Students at IIM Indore

It was the very last part of the Sport, Business and Society conference at IIM Indore and we were announcing the names of the award winners — men and women who had submitted fantastic, full papers well before the deadline.

Generous cash prizes of Rs 50,000 and Rs 75,000 had been handed over to our third and second-placed participants, when Professor Himanshu Rai, Director of IIM Indore, stepped up to announce the name of the winner of the first prize of Rs 1 lakh. It was Professor Supriya from Ajmer and soon after the announcement, she broke down in tears.

“I had promised my two-year-old daughter that her mother was doing something really standout and that’s why I was leaving her and coming here. She did not understand what I was saying but this is for her,” said Supriya, who had presented a superb paper on “Should India host the 2036 Olympic Games?”

That’s what defined the conference. Fantastic presentations all through, with young presenters making the platform their own. In all, 190 abstracts were submitted. Of them, 65 papers were accepted and presented and together with the keynotes and the plenary sessions, we spent two intense days talking Sport, Business and Society.

Normally a sports media company isn’t expected to dabble in hardcore academic work. But then, RevSportz is not a normal media company. We are disruptors. A bridge between academics and practice and come 2026, we will foray very strong into the domain of sports scholarship.

RevSportz colleagues, Rohan Chowdhury and Gargi Raut, were there at the conference and Gargi presented as well. Ashok Namboodiri delivered a fantastic plenary outlining what works for broadcast. At the end of the day, it was proved beyond doubt that cutting edge research conferences like these which bring academics, industry leaders and practitioners together with students can make serious contributions to evolving scholarship.

While the jury is still out on the subject — Should India host the 2036 Games — our theme for the conference, the truth also is we all came back enriched and energised. As host, the conference has been a brainchild of Professor Vijay Pereira’s and mine. I was fully satisfied and vindicated. RevSportz will broadcast a host of the sessions over the next few days and anyone interested in the larger themes of sports and business should watch the deliberations. My personal recommendation is do watch the fantastic Pullela Gopichand keynote. 

Any conference of this scale isn’t possible without the generous support of partners. IIM Indore delivered on every count. Sport in Society Journal, Taylor and Francis Group remains the best and most brilliant publishing arm and RevSportz is proud to have served as the media partner. GPEC’s UK led by Professor Pereira, our knowledge partner, delivered on all promises.

In sum, it was a fantastic two days. The lush green surroundings of the IIM campus coupled with the fantastic weather made things even more attractive. Food and hospitality, that stood out with all the fun and banter, made sure that each one of us in the organising team stay committed to the third edition of the conference in Oxford next year. Onwards and upwards in our quest for excellence.