Royal Challengers Bengaluru's chief operating officer (COO), Rajesh Menon expects the government to give benefits to corporate India, which is funding sports through corporate social responsibility (CSR) at a time when India Inc, from IT (information technology) firms to startups, is increasing its CSR funding.
"I think sports ministry or the finance ministry needs to look at it very seriously, saying how can we incentivise CSR funding into sports, what are the benefits that we can give them from a sports angle," Menon told Moneycontrol on the sidelines of the launch of Sports Forward Nation report.
He said that the government should look at more public-private partnerships.
"If you look globally, it is not only the government's job, private firms also need to participate. But if private firms need to participate, then you need to give some incentives to them. That is critical. You need to look at sports not from an elite sports point of view alone, we need to broaden it. Can we have a policy to look out for building tops to be converted into playing arena. We need more facilities and infrastructure. If you want to go six kilometers in Bengaluru, you will take one and a half, two hours, so if you have facilities, near to your place, rooftop facilities, then there can be so many open spaces," he said.
Sports CSR
Sports CSR grew at an annual rate of 27 percent 2020-21, matching overall CSR growth but it fell short in comparison to the overall growth of the sports industry, which had a 62 percent year-on-year growth and stood at Rs 9,500 crore in 2021.
Sports CSR only stood at Rs 242 crore in 2021. Even when comparing it to overall CSR funding, sports only accounted for close to 1 percent in overall spend. Even within the 1 percent of spending, the sources of funds were very concentrated with the top 10 companies in the list accounting for around 50 percent of the sports CSR funds, the report mentioned.
On CSR funding increasing by corporate India, Deepthi Bopaiah, chief executive of GoSports Foundation, a non-profit organisation pointed out that in the last three to four Olympic cycles funding has come to top 30-40 athletes. "People need to look at communities like the Siddi community (based in the northern districts of Karnataka) which has given India national and international-level sprinters . Pathways are very critical. Most of the time, corporations want to look at the top of the pyramid where there is immediate success. But corporate India coming into communities and states then we will see the funnel growing. Today women's cricket has a pathway but five years back the girls had to struggle to make it to the cricket team," she said.
Women in sports
For women's cricket, it has been a journey from mostly empty stadiums to filled up ones, said Smriti Mandhana, RCB and Indian National Team player.
Menon expects WPL franchises to continue with 8-10 percent growth in sponsorship revenue in 2025.
"What I want to convey to everybody, including the governing body is, we need to treat WPL as a small category, which we are trying to build, and it will take time, and it is not like a men's cricket that is already built. (For WPL) you need to start investing, and speak to multiple cohorts. Cohorts are not just, male. There is family, there is young female, young adult," Menon said.
As women's cricket grows, Mandhana said that all they want is equal amount of respect and in the last five years they have seen people appreciating them. "My ultimate dream is to pass by the road and see two women's teams playing gully cricket," she said.
Technology in sports
On the technology front, Menon highlighted the progress on their announcements for an edtech platform, fitness platform.
"Fitness platform it is on and live. While the ed-tech platform is getting ready, we are still looking for a right partner," he said.
The team is also developing a couple of products in association with IIT Madras.
"We signed the MoU (Memorandum of understanding) IIT Madras three years back under which we are developing multiple products like tracking products which can be used across sports. An online fitness platform that is AI (artificial intelligence)-based."
He pointed out that AI can help in identification of sports talent.
"In sports, we are leading in terms of tracking the player but AI can scale talent identification. Like mapping fitness. Fitness, if we can map the person completely, and help that person do a workout, correct the person, and, and give different exercises then that will help give us scale."
In India, the sports technology market by revenue is expected to grow from $185 million in 2023 to $835 Million in 2030.
The sports technology sector in India has seen growth and innovation, driven by the establishment of over 600 startups since 2015. These startups have collectively raised more than $1 billion in funding, showcasing the significant investment interest and financial backing in this sector.
The global sports market reached a valuation of $485 billion in 2023. The sports technology market stood at $16 billion in 2022 and is projected to grow to $79.2 billion by 2032, at Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 18-20 percent.
North America emerges as a dominant force in this landscape, buoyed by its plethora of major sports leagues, cutting-edge technological innovations, and deeply engaged fan base. Conversely, the Asia-Pacific region, fueled by economic powerhouses like China and India, is anticipated to witness rapid growth, leveraging its burgeoning market potential, the Sports Forward Nation report said.
RCB fandom
Menon is also betting big on RCB fandom and wants to expand globally through merchandise.
'The sports merchandise market is massive, otherwise, Puma wouldn't have continued with us. It has been more than three years. We have bigger plans, to expand it beyond India. We are looking at launching in multiple nations across, UK, US, Australia, Middle East, among others," he said.
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