Karnik, Head - Sports, Esports and Entertainment, GroupM South Asia, talks about his book ‘Business of Sports’, and how there is a need to create original academic content in sports management
The business of sports is booming with the onset of professional sports leagues and India is witnessing a surge in this sector like never before.
Acknowledging and analysing this spurt, Vinit Karnik, Head - Sports, Esports and Entertainment, GroupM South Asia, has penned a new book “Business of Sports”. The book focuses on the business side of sports and the various verticals of the industry using exciting new challenges for the ecosystem of sports.
In an interview with e4m, Karnik spoke about the inspiration behind his new book and more.
Excerpts:
What was the inspiration behind “Business of Sports”?
“Business of Sports - The Winning Formula for Success” is the first book on this subject by an Indian for the Indian market. Now imagine, for a country of our size, with an extremely active and supportive government, its growing investments in the sports sector – Khelo India, Fit India, multiple programs that the Sports Authority of India undertakes for the development of our track and field athletes and team sports – 10-plus premier leagues supported by sports federation and more… And we don’t have a study or reference material in which we educate and grow talent in the area of sports and its business.
Two years in lockdown gave me a bit of downtime to think and introspect some of the challenges I, as a practising professional, have come across and hence the thought of writing a book that will help the next generation of sports management academicians, students and enthusiasts with some marketing and sporting principles that are relatable, relevant and actionable in the India market. A huge shout out to the International Institution of Sports Management (IISM) and its Founder Director Nilesh Kulkarni who has collaborated with me in this initiative.
It’s a very important step for the sports education sector as the talent and potential that we have in India is unparalleled, and I am extremely confident that over the next 10 years India will become one massive superpower to reckon with in the world of sports and unlock its true potential to become world-beaters and exponentially increase medal tallies at the world stage. This book and many such initiatives will help us be ready for the next phase of growth by educating our next generation of professionals in the direction of becoming a sporting nation.
When you look at the body of academic work in sports management, where does India stand vis-a-vis its global counterparts?
Over the last 10-plus years, we have seen multiple academic institutes offering sports management courses. As an industry practitioner, I have had the privilege of visiting many of them. All these institutes are doing some stellar work in the area of sports education and I see tremendous passion and interest of students to make a career in sports. Over time while spending time with academicians and students, I realised there is a huge need gap in creating original academic content that is customised to our students and specifically for our market.
India is a very unique market for sports and while we can get inspiration from some of the developed sporting markets, we just can’t adopt learnings and case studies from the west. Our market dynamic and challenges are very different compared to others and hence it’s imperative for us to create customised products, services and solutions that suit our market conditions and sensibilities.
What are the key challenges for brands as far as sports marketing in India is concerned?
Cricket is our No. 1 sport and India is No. 1 in the world. Cricket has delivered to brands exponential value and hence have embraced cricket and have been supporting the sport for over three decades now. Cricket as a sport has been built over a period of three decades, and we need to applaud BCCI for the fabulous work that has been done at the grassroots level along with developmental programs. Hence, our performance and an enviable strong bench strength of talented young cricketers.
However, we have been a little slow in developing other sports. Having said that, over the past 10 years there have been massive investments in the emerging sports economy. The government of India and our PSUs in partnership with our private sector corporations have undertaken various programs that have catapulted our performance in sports like badminton, wrestling, boxing, shooting, archery, javelin, football, kabaddi, and others. We have started seeing some great results in terms of performances in recent times. Brands have now started to take notice of this and are investing in sports.
The Indian sports industry recorded a business value of Rs 9,530 crore ($1288 million) in the year 2021, with a 62% year-on-year growth. This huge upswing has pulled the sector out of the unfamiliar territory of degrowth that it was thrown into. As sporting events were called off in 2020, there were considerably fewer scoring opportunities and the industry figures dwindled to Rs 5894 Cr ($796 million). Just one year ago, before the pandemic wreaked havoc all around the globe, we had crossed the billion-dollar mark in 2019 with a figure of Rs 9109 crore ($1301 million). Going forward, the sports sector will continue to grow in double digits. Brands are chasing consumer eyeballs and one of the very important consumers' passion points is sports. Hence, this is a no brainer as in today’s time sports is the only content that promises appointment viewing.
How can brands leverage sporting platforms effectively?
As sports evolves from recreation to business, it becomes imperative that clubs and franchises are run with an eye on performance metrics like growth and profitability too, and hence, I see the emergence of two clear dimensions of success - winning on the field and winning commercially. While the two are not the same, there is a certain level of interdependence at play here.
Teams that win more are likely to have bigger fan bases, while sports competitions with higher skill levels on display are likely to attract more eyeballs. The high quality of cricket that we see at the IPL certainly has a role in making it the behemoth it is, and in emerging sports too, we see similar positive correlations. While the PKL has been an incredible success story, football has a big following in India and some of the greatest clubs in the world enjoy huge fandom in the country. This is leading to an increased propensity for Indian brands to invest in the rising fan following in football that will surely benefit the ISL, as we dribble forward.
The Tokyo Olympics has brought unprecedented success to India with seven medals, and we have seen in the past that glory on the world stage for our athletes acts as a prime mover for a wave of popularity in the sport. This leads to more excitement at the grassroots level, sowing the seeds of a virtuous cycle of performance, fame and commercial success. We are a sporting nation in the making, and for us to have significant contributions across different sports from a commercial standpoint, the journey starts with the action on the field. From that perspective, 2021 has given us a lot to be sanguine about.
Technology continues to shape the commercialization of sports and we will keep seeing innovations and breakthroughs with huge potential for adoption in our domain. 2021 saw an impactful entrance of blockchain applications and similarly, the world witnessed the grand arrival of the Metaverse which holds major possibilities to inclusiveness in globalized sporting events. E-sports gained significant traction last year and it is expected to get a further fillip in times to come. The ideas that germinate today have the potential to be huge businesses in future. While inventors will provide us with more tech-enabled possibilities, it is important for the sporting ecosystem to pick these trends and explore ways of applying them meaningfully in the industry. The growing interest demonstrated by foreign private equity giants in Indian cricket is a great sign for the industry in terms of capital advancements as well as the implementation of best practices. If 2021 was the year in which we got back on track, then 2022 will see us racing ahead, leaving behind milestones starting with the Rs 10,000 crore mark.
Why should people read this book?
Content and principles in the book are absolutely original and sensibilities that suit are adaptable for the Indian market. This can be a good reference point for the faculty and students studying sports management, and future students who are interested in sports, who are currently evaluating various academic options. This book can also help current sports practitioners in various sporting federations and bodies, sports leagues, franchisee, and sports marketing agencies in going back to the drawing board and refresh some of the principles that will help them at their workplaces.
Source:
https://www.exchange4media.com/mark...r-in-world-of-sports-vinit-karnik-120743.html
