'Fitness industry has huge potential in India'

The sports and fitness industry in India has not been tapped to its full potential. There are, therefore, great opportunities for new ventures in areas of sports infrastructure, sports management, sports science and fitness clubs and spas, said industry representatives at a session organised on sports and fitness at the TiE-ISB Connect 2006.

According to badminton champion, Pullela Gopichand, there is an increasing demand for sports infrastructure in the country, not just for sports excellence but for fun and recreation as well.

"The government may not be able to spend enough on sports. This, therefore, presents huge opportunities for private players to set up sports academies," he added.

Anirban Das Blah, vice-president of Globosport, a sports and entertainment management company, said that in India sports management was assumed to include only BCCI rights and cricket endorsements.

"However, globally, it involves sponsorships, broadcast rights, digital rights, endorsements, licensing and merchandising rights apart from infrastructure," he added.

Blah also said that in international markets, there was typically one major "Gorilla" sport apart from other small "Chimp" sports.