Is Sports more than Entertainment?

Sports till now has not been accredited with Industry Status in India. The Global Sports Industry is estimated to be around USD 600 Billion, comprising a range of associated business of media rights, sports related tourism, sports manufacturing, medicine, venue and infrastructure, hospitality and merchandising.

Broadly the heads under the revenue collection in Sports can be classified as media rights, gate collection, merchandising and sponsorship.The greatest revenue earner in India is the media rights for broadcasting.

 Cricket by far is the most popular sporting event in the country. But recently interest and success in various non cricket sports such as archery, badminton, boxing, chess, hockey, tennis, Snooker, Billiards, Shooting and Wrestling at prominent International competitions have reinstated the popularity of the sports. National League tournament in Cricket, Football, Badminton, Hockey, Kabbadi, Marathon, Golf and Formula Racing have gained immense popularity in India.

Though the viewership of sports have risen over the years, the quality of the sportsmen and women have risen only partially over the years in the International Sporting Events.

The partial success in Sporting arena can be attributable to the Government initiative and Private participation. The front runners of private companies investing money for breeding sportsmen are Tata Steel, Coca-Cola, Mittal Champions Trust, JSW Sports pvt Ltd, Reliance Industries, ONGC and Indian Railways.

We need to increase more private sponsorship in the sporting activities of the children in the age group of 0-14 years. Presently 29.3% of the population of India falls in the age group of 0-14 years.

The Middle Class as a percentage of Indian Population is estimated to increase from 4% in 2005 to 41% in 2025. The average share of educational and recreational activities in the household consumption is estimated to increase from 5% in 2005 to 9% for 2025. These provides for immense opportunity for investment in Sports Industry.

 A thriving sports sector usually have significant socio-economic impact as it is instrumental in improving the physical health and mental agility of a nations human resource and in promoting unity and national pride.