RevSportz is two years of age today. And I would not be exaggerating if I said that the last 12 months have been a dream. We organised our first sports conclave, Trailblazers, in March 2023 and managed to cover almost every sporting event from the ground. We had our colleagues in China for the Asian Games and the Asian Para Games, in Budapest for the World Athletics Championships, in Sri Lanka for the Asia Cup, in South Africa for the Women’s T20 World Cup, in London for the WTC final, in Birmingham for badminton’s All England, and much more. We have prided ourselves on sending teams to every event so that the coverage is in-depth and all-encompassing. We organised the first season of the Football Carnival, and it is now back in its second year in a bigger and better avatar.
Looking ahead, 2024 will be the year that defines our coverage even better. First, it is the biggest year for sport in a long time. We have the Olympics and Paralympics, we have the T20 World Cup and we also have football’s Euros. This is not to mention India’s tour of Australia at the end of the year, and the Asian Cup in Doha in January 2024. Let me say this – we will have our colleagues travelling everywhere. We will be sending multiple people to Doha, several people to Australia, the biggest media contingent to Paris for the Olympics and Paralympics, a handful to the US for the T20 World Cup and a group to Europe for the Euros. We stand steadfast – every major sporting event will be covered on the ground. We will celebrate our Olympic and Paralympic athletes as much as we do our cricket stars. We will provide optimum coverage to para-sport and grassroots sport, and continue our fight towards achieving equality between able-bodied and para-sport.
In March 2024, we will be organising the second edition of the Trailblazers Conclave, presented and supported by Tata Steel. And this year, it will be a two-day event with 25 or more of India’s Olympic and Paralympic champions, sports administrators and policymakers under one roof just months ahead of Paris 2024 – to discuss important subjects like pressure, mental health, the winning mentality and more. Young athletes like Sift Samra and Esha Singh, stars of the future, will benefit from the presence of Abhinav Bindra and Pullela Gopichand. We will have Sourav Ganguly, Vishwanathan Anand, Abhinav, Sourav Ghosal and Gopichand on one platform to talk about the future of Indian sport. We will have Nikhat Zareen, Manasi Joshi and Joshna Chinappa speak on women’s sports, while Anju Bobby George and Sreeshankar Murali discuss India’s prospects in the long jump. We also have Niccolo Campriani from the LA 28 organising committee outlining the vision of those games. We have Sumit Antil, Yogesh Kathunia, Pramod Bhagat, Suhas Yathiraj and Krishna Nagar speaking about the Paralympic growth story. There will be many more surprises along the way! In sum, it will be India’s biggest-ever sports conclave by a distance.
From a team of just five in 2021, we are now a group of 37 and will perhaps be 50-strong by the time we return from the Paris Paralympics. All this has been made possible by two sets of people – first and foremost, our viewers and readers, who engage with us on a daily basis. Our website now clocks unbelievable numbers on a daily basis. Of course, our readers and viewers criticise us on occasion and that’s always welcome. While trolls aren’t welcome and will be dealt with adequately, constructive criticism is key to improvement. The second are our sponsors and investors, and we are delighted to say we now have 15 national and international brands who believe in our vision. On our Foundation Day, we welcome Ganges Jute led by Abhishek Poddar and Nemichand Bamalwa to our vision as partners of the conclave. Abhishek is a sports aficionado of epic proportions and it is always welcome to have such passionate people join the journey. It is my pleasure to announce that Flutterwave, led by Prabha Agarwal, has joined us as a PR partner for Trailblazers 2.0.
Brands like Ageas Federal Life Insurance, Coca-Cola India, Wow Momo and BSV have been with us from the first day of our existence, and words can’t express the support we have received from them and from friends like Vighnesh Shanane, Sanjiv Navangul, Arnab Roy, Sumeli Chatterjee, Kaustubh Jha, Sagar Daryani and B Muralitharan. Lalbaba Rice, Fanatic Sports led by Raghav Gupta, Pebble Smartwatches, Swiggy Dineout and Xiaomi India have all joined us on the way and their support has only strengthened us further. Aktivo Labs led by Gourab Mukherjee continue to keep us healthy with the partnership, and Just My Roots led by Samiran Sengupta continue to indulge us!
Finally, to have Tata Steel as presenting partner of the Conclave and the principal partner for the Football Carnival is a matter of great pride. A sincere thanks to Shri TV Narendran, Shri Chanakya Chaudhary and Shri Sarvesh Kumar for backing the vision.
To conclude, RevSportz has taken major strides in year two. But for us, it is still just the start. Plenty more can and will be done. Sport holds up a prism to life, and we as storytellers want to become the harbingers of change. Contribute to the journey of becoming a multi-sporting India, one where physical literacy is a part of everyday living. RevSportz is a dream that we continue to live together. And dreams do come true. Thank you all.