There’s no business without self-doubt. When we created RevSportz, the plan was to do multi-sport and do a deep dive. But then, when you do multi-sport, you know you won’t get half the social media numbers in comparison to men’s cricket. The question then is should you or should you not? Do you want to back the Hockey India League, the shooting league, Paralympic sport, or just stay with men’s cricket?
I have forever asked my teammates to go beyond cricket and do multi-sport. That way we can actually make a difference and bring about real change. Cricket is already a cluttered space, so while we will continue to do cricket as much as possible, the endeavour will always be to do more and more multi-sport.
Take the case of Backstage With Boria. The show has no more than 30 per cent cricket. The entire focus is to be as diverse and as wide-ranging as possible. And here I have to say a sincere thank you to my sponsor Ageas Federal Life Insurance led by Jude Gomes. I remember explaining to Jude the philosophy behind BWB and he was fully supportive from day one. “Our tagline is har wada mumkin. We have to fulfil our promise and try and support every sport in the country,” said Jude.
Many keep asking me about the relevance of social media numbers? And the truth is that they are right in asking the question, for the conventional understanding is you need the social media monies to keep things going. The truth also is that RevSportz was never dependant on social media numbers. Because if you are, you will soon end up being a prisoner of what’s trending and fall prey to sensationalism. Gossip is what peddles more, and a meaningful and insightful show on hockey, for example, will have less takers. If you are dependant on social media, you will never be able to justify sending a reporter to Ranchi for the women’s Hockey India League and playing a Vandana Katariya interview big.
The moment you go beyond the social media grid, you realise why it’s relevant. Vandana is one of the best-ever to play for India and her comeback is a national story. And yet, it will be less watched than say a story on whether Jasprit Bumrah should be rested. Does that mean you shouldn’t send a reporter to Ranchi and just focus on cricket? Should you not send people to cover the hockey World Cup in the Netherlands or the Asian Games in Japan? Will you not send reporters to cover the Asian Para Games knowing that India stand to win 100-plus medals?
The truth is you also know that the ROI will be negative if you strictly go by social media numbers. That’s why you need to plan and plan better. Social media numbers shouldn’t decide your business strategy. If you want to do sport well, you evolve ways. You raise capital and reach out to brands. And the truth is that there are many takers. People don’t try and unless they do, social media numbers stay the easy index. And the wrong one.
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