As writers and researchers, we spend an inordinate amount of time following information related to sports business. One item that got our attention in August was about football taking off in India. It’s a story you might have even mentioned to your friends.
“The Elite Football League of India,” you said with a hint of cynicism. “American investors trying to build an eight-team NFL-style football league in India starting in November 2012.”
I’m sure that will happen.
But you didn’t mean it. Even though former NFL stars Ron Jaworski and Michael Irvin and former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka were reportedly involved. That’s because you conjured up some outdated image of India and couldn’t see American football catching on over there.
The Hyderabad Skykings and Goa Swarm? C’mon, get real.
And yet, the eye-opener in that Indian football announcement was the broad suggestion the league would grow to 52 teams by 2022. Yes, 52 teams — 20 more than the NFL.
It sounds crazy until you consider India is on pace to become the world’s most populated country with more than triple the population of the U.S. and Canada combined. India is also developing an upper and middle class at a rapid clip, so the supply of potential owners and season-ticket buyers is considerable.
You’re still kidding right?
Well, we wonder how you felt when you first heard about Brazil bidding to host the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympic Games in a single two-year period. Or, learned China was attempting to build a major pro basketball empire while pulling off the largest Olympic Games to date?
For many of us, our old-school parochial nature (maybe it’s even a bit jingoistic) keeps us from accepting that China, Brazil and India feature booming economies and massive population segments looking for entertainment options. Think of North America in the 1950s: growing, changing, prospering and expanding.
Don’t get caught up believing that another global superpower can’t possibly take a good idea and build something new and improved. Countries like India, Korea and China have done it in other industries — technology, automotive, service — so why not sports? Plus, football provides a weekly special event for fans other sports can’t match due to voluminous schedules and longer seasons.
It also provides a championship game unmatched in its singular ability to attract attention as a festival. These hospitality facts haven’t gone unnoticed around the globe.
Perhaps you’re recalling the NFL’s experience in Europe and pondering whether investors so lustily eyeing India will end up wasting their money? After all, there are intelligent NFL owners still grumbling about how much they spent propping up teams like the Barcelona Dragons, Frankfurt Galaxy and Scottish Claymores.
But give us this: Times change, technology improves and today’s global sport managers are more sophisticated. The success of India’s IPL (professional cricket), despite some challenges, is a multibillion-dollar league leveraging an international broadcast deal with YouTube.
Additionally, a market of ticket-paying, merchandise-buying sports fans exists and grows daily as India become more urban, more educated and more developed. And don’t worry about whether India has enough stadiums for football. With the construction efforts that supported the 2010 Commonwealth Games, India already has 13 stadiums of 50,000 seats or more in cities such as New Delhi, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Bangalore. In Kolkata alone, Salt Lake Stadium (120,000) and Ranji Stadium (90,000) would dwarf most NFL stadiums in the U.S.
As we approach November 2012, we know your doubts about India will remain. But you have to admit the potential is interesting and Americans have bet on crazier stock plays before. Hollywood and our technology sector invest heavily in India daily. So, keep your skepticism but make sure you aren’t too smug about NFL-style football on the subcontinent.
Rick Burton (rhburton@syr.edu) is the David B. Falk Professor of Sport Management at Syracuse University. Norm O’Reilly (norman.oreilly@uottawa.ca) is an associate professor of sport business at University of Ottawa.
