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October, 2009

Infrastructure Issues in Indian Sports?

Submitted by sorabh on 22 October, 2009 - 13:42
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I don't think so!
 
Yesterday was yet another special day. Soon-to-be-married-and-I-am-so-happy-for-her good friend Mansi Pingle invited me over at ITC, Parel to quietly attend a 'dual' press conference ... all about sports! The panel included Olympic Champions like the gracious javelin thrower (and Gold medallist in 1984) from the UK, Tessa Sanderson (I had no clue who this lady is till yesterday) ... boxer-bhai Vijender Singh, sports journalist Ayaz Memon, and a host of Olympians and Arjuna awardees. The audience included some more Olympians, and Arjuna Awardees .... one of whom was Viren Rasquinha (one more reason why I went to the conference, really).
 
Compared to how an evening full of sports should be ... yesterday was relatively dull. No wonder, then, that I found the good food to be one of the best things on the venue (they had stuff like cheese-balls, pastries, pav-bhaji ... etc. etc.) ... and I made sure I had a decent helping of that before the "godly-sports-noblemen" began their oh-so-boring-preaching about, "we will do something about sports in India ... to make India a sports power ... blah blah blah." 
 
So what was the press conference about?
 
Since you asked ... it was about a 'global' firm called 'TransStadia' that plans to make world-class stadia all around the country (one in every state - to be precise), and wanted to kick-it-off with a press conference of some regard. A suggestion to these people: How about a decent website atleast? This is what they have today.
 
A lesson I had learnt from my time in SportzVillage is that no matter how "private" you are as a company, nothing in sports, even at the local level, is manifest-able unless you have the "blessings" of the concerned government or federation. Not very surprising, then, that they invited local-MP Priya Dutt to "grace" the occasion (they packaged it saying, "It's a Public-Private Partnership" ... while we all know how much the 'public part' really contributes in a PPP in India)!
 
Given the magnitude of the project that directly involves real-estate dealings, rural land (where else will they make the infra?), media, the ultra-corrupt sports industry of India ... isn't it a surprise that just one MP actually showed up! Or may be ... many will follow suit soon ... when the proverbial Ganga starts to flow!
 
So why am I so annoyed by the experience?
 
I have my reasons. When I stepped into the domain of sports management in 2005, I had these noble aims of "taking the Indian football team to the World Cup" ... and "ensuring that India bags a few Gold medals in the 20XX Olympics" ... However, in 2008, I realised that all that is the purest form of crap you can get anywhere! These aims are not sustainable ... they won't do much for the sports culture in our country. For instance, even after Vijender Singh's exploits, can we say that India has a sexy "boxing" culture? Do we really feel that China, with more medals to show than Australia in the last Olympics, is a more sporting nation than either Australia or the US?
 
My perceptions about sports in India changed while I was trying to make my ends meet from within the sports industry. I am a big fan of problem solving by simplifying things ... and my feel is that by stating such hi-fi ambitions, we are just complicating the entire process (if, at all, we are not simply showing off). We, really, shouldn't worry about trying to find a super-talent, honing it, providing it with all the support, and hoping that this super-talent makes it big in an event that comes across once in 4 years. No risk-management guru, no matter how high he may be on the best brand of Russian Vodka, would ever suggest that this is a good business proposition!
 
Our worry, on the contrary, should be to ensure that kids around us have a nice time playing something - both, for fun, and competitively too. Not just kids ... but housewives, men, women ... everyone. That's it. That's what a sports manager's simple aim should be. That's what will bring sports more to the "grass roots" (it's a different matter that most of these opinionated spokesmen have no idea of what exactly is, "grass roots"!), engage local businesses with local media, and that's how the local man's pockets will lend themselves to local development of sports. Integrate this differential equation from zero to ... hmmm ... 'district level', and you've got a district which is truly 'sporty' (example: The Coorg district in Karnataka where bachcha-bachcha plays hockey)!
 
Integrate it from zero to 'state', and we will have state that will take pride in it's sports (example: Manipur ... women in Manipur are the 'men of the family' ... who run businesses, houses, and play sports - regularly. Any guesses who have won more than 80% of the Women's National Football Leagues in the last many years?!)
 
One day, we should be able to integrate this equation from zero to ... the national level ... and we will have a sporting country. However, we will be too busy with our local sports to worry about international tournaments (how many 'world events' has the US really won ... and how much does it bother them, really)? 
 
So, what about the Olympic medals and the World Cups?
 
Well, they were always meant to be byproducts. Nations (read as "humans") did not start playing once these tournaments came into place. Humans have been playing anyway, and these tournaments were just a byproduct of many nations playing the same sport. It's a different matter that they have become a symbol of pride and honor ... but any project that aims to "win a World Cup before 20XX" or "get a few Gold medals by 20YY" is slated to go down the drain ... just like any human function which worries about the "fruits" ... rather than the "actions".
 
And where's the infrastructure to do these 'local' sports?
 
It's all around us. We all know how much we used them. To cite just on example: I am currently piling on with my friends in the posh "Raheja Vihar" apartments in Mumbai's Powai. It's got all the sports infra you need - badminton courts, table tennis facilities, pool tables, swimming pools, gyms etc. etc. But here's the "helooOOooo" news ... : their club-house is used by not more than 5% of the total resident population. Even lesser by kids. 
 
It's anyone's guess as to when these facilities will fail to justify the opportunity costs of having them there ... and one more sports facility in Mumbai will find it's place in the oblivion.
 
For other cities ... the frame is still picturesque. Every residential society in Bangalore has access to such facilities ... but the more I observe them, the more I find that they are vastly under utilized. Children are either working on their homework, or playing video games ... or worse still, they are busy listening to songs on their papa's laptops! Housewives are just too busy with the 'K'-entertainment ... while the small percentage of male that is fitness conscious attends the gym.
 
As far as I can see ... it's the infra that is being under-utilized ... against the contrary (which is always suggested as the prime reason for India's laziness in sports). That's why I wonder if TransStadia will ever come even close to getting us a gold medal in the Olympics of 2020 by bringing some world class infrastructure!
 
That said .... I can't care much for the World Cups and Olympic medals anyway. Not just because they are, as I said, just 'byproducts' ... but also because I got a chance to come close to one of those yesterday! Tessa showed us her 1984 Gold medal ... and I got to see it from less than a couple of feet away!
 
That's what made my day :)
 
 
Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people.
 

Sports and New-Media Innovation - This Takes the Cake!

Submitted by sorabh on 23 October, 2009 - 11:49
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My friends know how big a quote-freak I am ... and here's one more that I have come to love: 

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."

Here's a bunch of unreasonable people who, in my opinion, have created the next big thing in the new-media-and-sports industry. No ... not the Indian sports industry ... nnah! We are a long way from growing into a true "sports industry" itself! 

The US Sports Industry. I used to be under the opinion that the US and European sports industries are so saturated and matured, that all opportunities will come knocking within the developing economies of Asia-Pacific, and India, Africa etc. Now when I look at Brand Affinity Technologies, and also because I haven't had breakfast yet, I am eating my own, tasteless words. :(

Ryan Steelberg, and his bunch have come up with one of the most novel concepts of making new-media tick within the sports industry. Till today, the new-media world hasn't been able to think beyond things solutions that bring match-highlights or score-updates to people's mobile phones. Some more adventurous people have tried to (and failed till today) to use create pseudo-FaceBooks and Orkuts within the vertical of sports (we tried that at MeraSport and fell flat ... on our faces). In this stale eco-system, then, I feel fresh to welcome Brand Affinity Technologies.

Brand Affinity have a simple concept! They connect potential advertisers/brands to fresh talent. Their solution (a kind of social network), executed entirely through their website, helps ... rather ... enables local, hidden talent in sports to showcase themselves to the relevant world by helping them to create an online portfolio. The other side of the coin: they also enable advertisers and brands to borrow these portfolios, merge it with their imminent marketing needs, and begin their campaigns almost instantly - wherever they want to. These are the bones that make up the body ... and like any true American would do ... BAT packages these bones in such a juicy meat that you can't help but think that this will work like nothing else ever did.

Want to feel it yourself? Here you go ... 

Here are the reasons why I feel this is worth keeping track of ...

1) They have a simple solution. Very simple. All they are doing is to copy the athlete-brand relationship of the physical world (contract rooms) within the online space while themselves acting as 'agents'. The business has been one of the most profitable ever since McCormack started IMG decades ago. Thus, BAT already have a revenue model in place (the biggest challenge with virtual businesses of any kind ... be it Twitter or Facebook ... is to crack a revenue model)!

2) They enable local talent to connect with local brands and enable local, more targeted marketing. In the world where 'glocal' is fast becoming the new keyword ... experts are putting their bets on local businesses that can prove their revenue models and can, then, exploit opportunities to scale the business globally. BAT already has 2000 local athletes on it's board, and around 50 brands who have been using their portfolios to kick-start their campaigns. Won't be too long before 2000 becomes 20000 ... and more.

3) BAT creates super-duper, media-rich portfolios for athletes ... which makes them look like super-heroes of some order! I am sure they have a talented media team that helps them create that out-of-the-world snippets for each sports person. This is the kind of media work that any brand manager would really like.

4) We net-savvy consumers have evolved into a bunch of humans who ignore anything that appears on the right hand side of the screen. We know that it's always going to be some Google ads, or some useless content. It takes some media-rich, fresh content to attract our attention to an online campaign. That's what BAT does successfully!

5) They have the support of Microsoft Advertising. Isn't that terrific in itself!

This is the kind of stuff that I would love to do within the Indian set-up. Don't know when, though!

 

 

The Most Wishful Song Ever?

Submitted by sorabh on 27 October, 2009 - 22:34
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I have been meaning to write this post since long ... felt like doing it today. I am a huge fan of Dharmendra, and even more so of Mohd. Rafi. But I bet you will drop your jaws when I confess that I, somewhat, am a fan of Asha Parekh too.
 
I can already hear swear words :) But please - don't blame me ... !? When she had just started off in black-n-white movies with Dil Deke Dekho, she looked pretty cute, didn't she?! Check this? I was smitten!
 
Ok ... may be she didn't. I admit again. But here's something that no one can deny: Asha Parekh has played the leading roles in some of the most notable films of her times ... with some of the most talented artists of ... all times. The best part is - almost all of Asha Bhonsle's chirpy numbers with RD Burman featured Asha Parekh ... plus Shammi Kapoor seemed to have given his best pieces in the era when Parekh was his co-star. She has definitely made the most of her opportunities ...
 
Back to the theme, though. Without saying much: here's the link to the song's video ...
 
A suggestion: simply listen to the lyrics ... see nothing else (definitely not the girl dancers who come in for the fillers)! While Dharmendra is magnificent in his expressions (how can one manage to express so much without any other movement!) ... and Asha Parekh (who looks so beautiful in this video) must have not cried for years after weeping so much ... it's the lyrics that make this one so, so special. Not even the music ... it's just the lyrics that add all the weight to this song!
 
This masterpiece by Laxmikant-Pyaarelal was penned by the great Anand Bakshi - and I will take my hat off a thousand times just to pay tribute to the beautiful words he has chosen ... while bringing out the worst of all the feelings.
 

My favorite curse of all ...

"तेरे गुलशन से ज़यादा, वीरान कोई वीराना ना हो,
इस दुनिया में कोई तेरा, अपना तो क्या, बेगाना ना हो!
किसी का प्यार क्या, तू बेरुखी को तरसे!"

Wonder how can someone be this cruel to a person one loves. Or may be ... one can be this cruel to only a person one loves ... hmm?

 

"Don't repent a poor judgement. Good judgement comes from bad experience which comes from poor judgement."

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T20 is so bad for ODI's - or is it?

Submitted by sorabh on 30 October, 2009 - 20:32
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One of the best experiences I had during the sport management course was to work on, and write, my dissertation. My fabulous and very charming guide, Terri Byers, wanted me to write on the progress of sports in emerging economies ... and I ended up producing a thesis entitled, "Barriers to Organizational Change - The Case of Professionalization of Cricket in India". 

It was the best time to research on this topic ... as the IPL was unheard of, and the cricket was riding a slowing bicycle on two dilapidated wheels - ODI's, and Tests. Of course ... the deterioration came in which too much of riding (and taking spectators for a ride), match-fixing needles ... and useless performances.

It was during this dissertation when I would sit down in a small, desolated room of the library, and interview some cricket greats from all domains (radio, players, a BCCI President, coaches) over the telephone - which was followed by transcribing every word and, then, making sense of it. I would never forget the attitude that ex-Indian national Jatin Paranjpe showered ... and refused to give me time enough to even introduce myself ... but I would also never forget Prem Panicker (of Rediff fame), who gave me all the time, and gyaan, in the world! While some people are plain ignore-worthy, some others are just awesome!

Prem had, then, opined that Indian cricket would go the same way as West Indian cricket had went after their prime - it would nosedive. Comparing Indian cricket to Indian cinema, he foresaw that test cricket (art movies) and ODI cricket (single screen theatres) will give way to T20 (multiplexes) ... where the perceived values of the cash-rich-time-poor customer/spectator (movie-goer) would be focussed more on the overall experience of watching the game (movie) rather than the technical quality of the game (direction, acting ... and stuff).

That was, to me, great judgement. After the first IPL, I actually remembered to write to Prem that his prophecies were coming true, and he remembered me and was kind enough to reply.

But where am I going with this story-telling?

Hmmm ... I have started to believe that Prem's prophecies may not be true in the long term - thanks to the vision-less way in which T20 is being treated in India. Yesterday, while surfing the Economic Times (which I buy to try my head at the crossword), I read that the TRP rating for the 1st Ind-Aus ODI was much more than most of the matches of both - the T20 World Cup, and the T20 Champions League!

This came as a huge surprise, but a nice relief as well, to me. Like most of the sport lovers, I really want the commercial aspects of the game to not take the front-seat - which is precisely what's happening with T20. But the findings of that article in ET were worth mentioning: 

The cash-rich-time-poor junta loves T20 more than the ODI's ... if it's about 3-4 games or so. Hence, on a given day, a buff would like to watch a T20 and save time, rather than sit through an ODI game. However, when it comes to many days of watching cricket, it's the ODI that takes the cake. The same cash-rich-time-poor punter would rather watch the entire constellation of Indian stars playing together (especially against a team like Australia) ... instead of watching a plethora of games that feature 2-3 stars each (in domestic T20). Afterall, India is more concerned with celebrities rather than the sport.

The ET folks failed to compare an international T20 with an ODI ... but I guess the shorter version of the game would win the contest hands down. Waiting for the time when T20 falls flat on it's nose ... and sense is directed to more beautiful things in the world! 

As an aside, some of the things that could help ODI (and Tests) retain their class could be ... 

1) Rivalries - which are drenched in the history of tests and ODI's;

2) Strategic, and more technical, nature of the game;

3) Statistics - which do not account for much in a T20, but are something that cricket fans are so mad about when it comes to ODI's and Tests; and (very importantly)

4) Poor handling of T20 by the management!

 

"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws."

(Wonder where India features in the "Number of Laws" list)!

 

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