Year 2015 in review
The sports sector, consisting of Gate Fee, Sponsorship, Broadcasting Rights and Merchandising witnessed a growth of 10 per cent from 2013 to 2015 — up from INR43,725 million to INR48,069 million1. On the contrary, cricket saw a dip in on-the-ground sponsorship numbers which fell from INR5,083 million to INR4,647 million.2 The numbers clearly depict that though cricket continues to be a dominant sport, the rise of other new sports leagues is helping broaden the base of the industry. The symbiotic relationship between entertainment and sports that started with the Indian Premier League (IPL) has now spread over other sports with the Indian Super League (ISL, 429 million viewers), Indian Badminton League (IBL, 21 million viewers), Pro Kabaddi League (PKL, 435 million viewers), etc.3 These numbers clearly show that India might well be on its way from being a one-sport nation to multiple sports nation.
Key Trends
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Growing viewership of females across sports -This is a worldwide trend and has also started becoming evident in India now, primarily across leagues. Broadcasters and sponsors have to tweak their strategies to cater to female viewership, with a few advertisers already starting to capitalise on this trend. |
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Visibility, promotion and acceptance of ‘Rurban’ sports - Regional games packaged in interesting league formats have been successful to an extent in garnering rural viewership. With Star India placing its hope on kabaddi and Sony Pictures Network (SPN) on wrestling, the broadcasters too are vying to woo this segment, indicating the latent potential of these sports. |
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Online and on the go sports consumption by viewers and broadcasters also betting on digital medium for sports - Among devoted sports enthusiasts globally, 45 per cent prefer online sports compared to 33 per cent who prefer television content4. Also, 52 per cent of fans make use of a tablet or smartphone to access sports content while watching television.5 Broadcasters in India have also recognised the potential here. E.g. Star India streams sports on StarSports.com and HotStar.com. The IPL digital rights procurement was a premeditated deal by Star to build Hotstar as a primary destination for digital content consumption.6 |
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Other leagues gaining traction in terms of viewership, expanding the sports viewing universe as a whole - ISL season 1 was the fourth most watched league in world football in terms of average attendance and broke into top-three in its season 27. Pro Kabaddi League achieved 56 per cent increase in viewership over the previous season.8 |
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Cricket continues to rule the roost in terms of advertising, commanding a premium in ad rates - Marquee properties, such as IPL and World Cup witnessed growth in ad rates and spurt in new sponsorships. Sony Pictures Network sold 100 per cent of the on-air inventory9 for the IPL season 8 even before the start of the tournament. The ad rates too were pretty high, in the range of INR500,000 to INR575,000 per 10 second spot in 201510 (with a year-on-year increase of about 10 to 15 per cent). Star India is expected to earn about INR3 billion in ad revenue from World T20 in March 2016.11 |
Way forward towards building a sustainable sporting environment
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Granting industry status to sports - This could go a long way in increasing access to organised funding for companies in the sports sector, which is expected to spur overall sports development in the country leading to increase in economic development |
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Promoting private participation - The government could explore measures to develop private-investment lead sporting scenario, which could help in imbibing a sporting culture, thereby developing a sporting ecosystem. Some of the steps that could be taken are public‒private participation to renovate the existing sports facilities and tax holidays and financial incentives for investment made toward grass-root development of sports. |
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Improving sports infrastructure - To strengthen the revenues from gate receipts, we need to focus on developing stadium infrastructure, which can then play a pivotal role in enhancing the footfalls for various sporting events, aiding monetisation of these investments.Provision of allied services such as free wi-fi in stadiums could be explored more aggressively to enhance the overall viewership experience. |
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Other leagues gaining traction in terms of viewership, expanding the sports viewing universe as a whole - ISL season 1 was the fourth most watched league in world football in terms of average attendance and broke into top-three in its season 2 . Pro Kabaddi League achieved 56 per cent increase in viewership over the previous season. |
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Development of Human Capital -The government and corporates need to focus on imparting appropriate skills to people interested in sports. There could be an enhanced focus on establishing training academies to produce high quality coaches, players, support staff, etc., as they are instrumental in promoting sports and achieving excellence in the respective sporting field. The process to raise capital for companies involved in setting up training academies need to be simplified. |
Future outlook
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Growing importance of Digital Medium - Smartphones, tablets, dongles and increasing mobile internet penetration have facilitated the growth of online sports consumption in India. Online platform is expected to grow by almost 30 to 35 per cent (on a small base), and companies are investing in this as the audience profile and viewing habits are changing. The India vs Pakistan match of the ICC World Cup witnessed a viewership of 25 million12 on Hotstar. In IPL 2015 too, about 20 per cent viewership was online13. With multiple broadcasters launching their OTT (over the top) apps, this trend is expected to continue across multiple sporting events. |
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Stakeholders will proactively attempt to be transparent and accountable to avoid the impression of corruption - Many Indian sports associations are plagued with challenges related to transparency and accountability. An effective way forward for them is self-regulation and evolving into a professionally managed organisation, else they run the risk of losing their autonomies. |
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League Franchisees’ to step up their fan engagement efforts-More franchisees across sporting leagues will use digital and online medium, among others to step up their fan engagement efforts with the objective to translate a sizable fan base into big ground sponsorships. So far most franchisees, especially for non-cricket leagues, are yet to see traction from this side of the revenue pie. |
| Sources |
| 1 |
Presentation: Sports Industry has grown by 10 per cent in 2015’, Afaqs, ‘http://www.afaqs.com/news/story/43904,accessed on: 1 March 2016 |
| 2 |
Presentation: Sports Industry has grown by 10 per cent in 2015’, Afaqs, ‘http://www.afaqs.com/news/story/43904,accessed on: 1 March 2016 |
| 3 |
‘Million-dollar games: How private enterprise is changing non-cricket sports in India’, Forbes India, 16 March 2015 |
| 4 |
10 stats to help you increase sports fan engagement’, Scribble Live, ‘http://www.scribblelive.com/blog/2014/02/19/10-stats-to-help-you-increase-sports-fan-engagement/’,accessed on: 1 March 2016 |
| 5 |
10 stats to help you increase sports fan engagement’, Scribble Live, ‘http://www.scribblelive.com/blog/2014/02/19/10-stats-to-help-you-increase-sports-fan-engagement/’,accessed on: 1 March 2016 |
| 6 |
‘India World Cup matches deliver a boost for Star’s Hotstar app’, Live mint, 21 April 2105 |
| 7 |
Worldfootball.net, ‘http://www.worldfootball.net’, accessed on: 1 March 2016; KPMG in India’s analysis, 2016 |
| 8 |
Pro Kabaddi League ratings grow by 56% in season 2’, Exchange4media, ‘http://www.exchange4media.com/tv/pro-kabaddi-league-ratings-grow-by-56-in-season-2_61342.html’, accessed on: 1 March 2016 |
| 9 |
‘IPL sells 100% inventory; adds 3 new sponsors’, Exchangeformedia.com, ‘http://www.exchange4media.com/ipl/ipl-sells-100-inventory;-adds-3-new-sponsors_59546.html’ ,accessed on: 1 March 2016 |
| 10 |
‘Big ticket IPL remains big brand branding fiesta’, The Financial Express, 8 December 2015 |
| 11 |
‘Star India eyes over Rs300 crore as ad revenue from World T20’, Livemint, 8 March 2016 |
| 12 |
‘At 25 mn, Indo-Pak match viewership creates history’, Business Standard, 18 February 2015 |
| 13 |
Star India’s Hotstar gets 7.2 million video views for the first match of IPL’, The Economic Times, 9 April 2015 |
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