Author: Ashok Namboodiri

Every city has its icons. For Kolkata, it isn’t just the Howrah Bridge or Victoria Memorial. Sometimes it’s a sprawling, green colossus rooted in memory…the Great Banyan tree at the Botanical Gardens in Shibpur. To a wide-eyed child like me, trudging in with my brother on weekend outings, the tree wasn’t just a tree. It was an entire universe – sturdy, sprawling, unbending, yet full of quiet surprises if you looked closely. Years later, when I watch Cheteshwar Pujara bat, I realise that the Banyan had already given me a metaphor for him. The Banyan tree is not glamorous. It…

Saudi Arabia’s decision to put Al-Nassr and three other footballing giants on the block marks a decisive shift in the Kingdom’s sporting playbook. Only months ago, Cristiano Ronaldo had extended his contract, underlining Riyadh’s ability to attract the very best in global sport. Today, however, the headlines are not about star signings but about privatisation and sustainability. For the past few years, Saudi sport has been synonymous with ambition and state-backed might. Tens of billions of dollars flowed in, fuelling marquee transfers, gleaming stadiums, and hosting rights for global events. This surge was not vanity; it was strategy. Vision 2030…

India has chosen prohibition. With Parliament passing the Promotion & Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, real-money formats, their ads, and payment facilitation are out, and leading platforms have already switched off cash play. The sports–media–tech flywheel that thrived on fantasy-led spend now faces a hard reset. In 2004, I took up the responsibility of managing Tamil Nadu as the Area Operations Director at Coca-Cola India. Tamil Nadu had implemented a blanket lottery ban since January 2003. Courts upheld the state’s power to prohibit lotteries inside its borders under the Lotteries (Regulation) Act, 1998, so long as the state itself…

Ashok Namboodiri The ban on real money gaming (RMG) has moved from ideology to reality, and the numbers are starting to tell their own story. What was once India’s fastest-growing digital segment — pegged at nearly ₹20,000 crore GGR (gross gaming revenue) in 2023 with projections of doubling by 2027 — now stands at a crossroads. For platforms, athletes and franchises, the impact is not just emotional but financial, and the choices ahead are stark. A lot of reactions are coming in from various stakeholders. Let’s do a deep dive to understand the point of view of (a) A…

Ashok Namboodiri Recent announcements in the US indicate an increased appetitite for fund houses to invest and participate in the growth of sports businesses. Ares reportedly is preparing to launch a second Sports, Media & Entertainment Fund after its inaugural one in 2020 while Apollo General Management is considering a permanent capital vehicle dedicated to sports finance. This structure would allow for longer-term strategic investment, primarily through lending to professional sports teams and leagues with the potential to take equity. Which raises the question of what exists in India today for HNIs to “buy a slice of a team”. Consider…

The English Premier League (EPL) is back, and if the opening weekend taught us anything, it’s that English football never eases you in gently. From tear-soaked tributes at Anfield to a fairytale at the Stadium of Light, the 2025/26 season has already lit its first set of fireworks. Liverpool’s 4-2 win over Bournemouth wasn’t just about the scoreline – it was raw emotion. Still grieving the loss of Diogo Jota, the Kop rose to a chorus of song, and the players responded in kind. Hugo Ekitike opened his account early, Cody Gakpo added flair, and Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo stole hearts…

Former national selector and current Punjab Kings assistant coach Sunil Joshi has backed a forward-looking squad for the Asia Cup 2025, urging Indian cricket to stop looking back and instead focus on building a team for the long haul. Joshi’s recommended line-up features Suryakumar Yadav as captain, with Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill in the top order. Significantly, he believes Gill should slot in at number three rather than open, allowing India to field a left-right opening combination and giving the middle order more solidity. “There’s no point in looking back; it is better to look forward and build for…

Ashok Namboodiri This is the second part of the series of new age sports that Gen Alpha is taking up and making it their own. In a world of shrinking attention spans and growing urban sprawl, one sport is quietly, yet quite literally, scaling new heights among Gen Alpha: bouldering. Once a gritty pursuit for mountaineers, bouldering has evolved into a sleek, urban phenomenon. With its colorful climbing holds, Instagrammable aesthetics, and no need for ropes or bulky gear, it offers bite-sized bursts of adrenaline perfectly tailored for the TikTok generation. But beyond the physical thrill lies a deeper story…

Ashok Namboodiri On Sunday morning I spoke to my Gen Z nephew. We discussed the favourites on the new season of the English Premier League. He said, “I wish I could watch 30 games in 3 minutes, instead of one 90-minute match,” and that left me reeling. The roar of the crowd, the tension of a nail-biting finish, the magic of a last-minute goal.. sports have always been about moments. But in a world where attention spans are shrinking and screens are multiplying, those moments are increasingly being consumed in bytes, not broadcasts. Welcome to the era where the…

Ashok Namboodiri Sholay, arguably Hindi cinema’s most popular film, was released on August 15, 1975. Wait a minute… whats that got to do with sports? As I sat down to write a piece on Independence day, I thought of letting my mind wander and having some fun. Growing up in Kolkata in the eighties, some of my best memories centered around this cult classic of a film and the 1983 World Cup win under Kapil Dev. Back in school, we used to play this little game of comparing the team members to the cast of Sholay, and I am going…