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| NBA, Mahindra tie-up may score big for Indian basketball |
| Swarup Chakraborty / Mumbai Jul 20, 2010, 01:12 IST |
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If all goes well, the Elephant may soon catch up with the Dragon in a game that has kept the people in the world's fastest growing economy in good shape.
Taking a leaf out of China’s efforts in developing basketball at the grassroots level, the National Basketball Association (NBA) wants to replicate the model in India.
It is not surprising that companies are looking at the business opportunity of the sport as well.
“We want to make basketball the number two sport in India and we have been taking various initiatives. In the last one-and-a-half years, we have built five courts in the country and over the next three to five years we plan to build 100 courts across the cities. We are in discussions with real estate developers for developing courts in schools, colleges and at locations of YMCA,” said Akash Jain, director, international development – India, NBA.
In the near term, NBA intends to focus on key metros like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai to promote the sport. It plans to open an office with local staff in the next few months in India. The Mahindra Group has tied up with NBA and the Mahindra NBA Challenge.
To monetise the investment, NBA is working on a two-pronged strategy. “We are looking at media content partnerships with broadcasters. For the last six months, we have had a show called Real NBA, a weekly 30-minute behind-the-scene lifestyle program on both Ten Sports and Zee Sports. We are also in talks with one of the largest broadcasters for a content deal,” said Jain.
NBA is also exploiting the potential of merchandising and is looking at new licensing deals with companies for NBA branded products. Presently the sports body has three active licensing partners distributing NBA merchandise in India: Adidas, EA Sports and Spalding. Adidas currently sells NBA jerseys, T-shirts, sweatshirts and shorts in 120 stores across India.
For the Mahindra Group, the partnership with NBA in its present state is not a business venture. Said Sriram Ramachandran, senior general manager, corporate strategy, M&M, “The partnership with NBA to launch a multi-city, community-based, basketball league is focused on growing basketball participation and promoting healthy, active lifestyles in Indian communities. Basketball as a game does not need huge investments and can be easily played at the community level.”
Since Mahindra disbanded its national-level football club –Mahindra United – just before the FIFA World Cup, what is the rationale for investing in a sport which is not as popular as football in the country? Is basketball going to be a profitable sport for Mahindra Group? Ramchandran said the company is not looking at making a profit. “We have not moved out of football either, as in the next few months we will again start our initiatives to promote football at the grassroots level.”
After cricket, football is the second most popular sport in the country. However, with corporate sponsorships, basketball might be able to gain popularity in the coming few years. According to the Basketball Federation of India (BFI), basketball is the second fastest growing sport in India, with four million participants.
The prospect of basketball is also underscored by the fact that sports and entertainment agencies IMG and Reliance Industries signed a 30-year deal with BFI in June. The deal has granted the IMG-Reliance joint venture commercial rights to basketball in India, including sponsorship, advertising, broadcasting, merchandising, data and franchising rights.
Jain said NBA had been active in China for the last 25 years and over 300 million people play the sport in the country. NBA has four offices there and a Chinese basketball player, Yao Ming, has been a star in the North American NBA.
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