"How BRICS(Brazil,Russia,India,China,SouthAfrica) club can drive profits to sports business"

India will host the 8th BRICS Summit during its Chairmanship which is scheduled to take place on 15-16 October 2016 in Goa. The theme of India’s BRICS Chairmanship is Building Responsive, Inclusive and Collective Solutions.

The agenda for this summit will be as follows:

•  Institution building to further deepen, sustain and institutionalise BRICS cooperation;
• Implementation of the decisions from previous Summits;
• Integrating the existing cooperation mechanisms;
• Innovation, i.e., new cooperation mechanisms; and
• Continuity, i.e., continuation of mutually agreed existing BRICS cooperation mechanisms.

Focus by the host nation will be people to people (P2P) contacts of BRICS member states especially youth. Activities such as U-17 Football Tournament, Youth Summit, Young Diplomats’ Forum etc are planned by the hosts and will be awaiting positive responses from the member states.

If we closely look at every country in BRICS summit we will find that every member state has sporting background from the sports business & management side. 3 countries from this community has organised world's biggest mega sporting event such as The Olympics & FIFA World Cup. India is the only country which has never tried to share the hotseat with China,Russia & Brazil in mega sporting events. According to Ex-FIFA President Mr.Blatter "India is a sleeping giant" India has organised Commonwealth Games,Formula 1 Grand Prix and ICC Cricket World Cup.

According to @worldeconomicforum BRICS countries are the most competitive economies in the world.The BRICS club (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), which used to be known for its tremendous growth potential, is today in the midst of severe economic and political woes. Apart from the Federal rate increase which has contributed to the mounting debt burden for these economies; falling global commodity prices have affected these emerging markets which rely heavily on export led growth.

I believe the community iteslf can create a governing body which will be managed as public-private partnerships in sports marketing,event management,sports apparrel manufacturing. digitalization in sports. This effort can help developing economies to sustain on one vertical i.e Sports if the international inflation rate increases. I believe on the above lines of BRICS summit agenda, community should emphasis on these 4 points.

•  Institution building - Uniform digital infrastructure in sports such as Sports Apps, websites as well as inter- nation cooperation with the help of National Olympic commitees (NOCs) and private sport governing bodies.
• Sharing ecosystem - World is moving towards sharing economy, sports can also play a role in sharing economy. Sports development programs can be one initiative in the BRICS club. Sport exchange programs for sport managers to enhance sports management skills and signing Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) within local sport governing bodies.
• Innovation - China & India scores equal in the startup world. Innovative ideas which are giving birth in two growing economies can be applied to sports and implement in remaining BRICS countries. Sponsorship opportunites within the BRICS nations in various sports can be a win - win for organisations and sponsoring companies. Smart city projects which is booming in India can convert into Sports Smart City project which will also be beneficial for Russia, Brasil and South Africa.
• Continuity - Organising mega sporting events within the BRICS nations can generate revenue in the business side of sports such as boosting sports apparel , wearable industry as well as usage of Sports infrastucture which was built up investing millions/trillions of currencies.

Points in the agenda of 8th BRICS summit especially in sports business taken seriously then Sports management professionals,futurists,economists can predict profitable outcomes from BRICS Club.

Parth Kalke(Sports Management Professional) - Views expressed are personal

References: www.weforum.org , www.bricss2016.gov.in, www.insidethegames.biz