Private investments in non-cricket sports to see a huge growth

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Looks like the Olympic fever is set to continue in the country, as private investments continue to see a major spurt in non-cricket sports, owing to India’s stellar performance in the recently concluded Tokyo Olympics.

Neeraj Chopra, who won India’s first-ever gold medal in a track and field event, and wrestler Bajrang Punia, who won Bronze, were both trained at the Inspire Institute of Sports (IIS), the country’s privately funded high-performance Olympic training center founded by Jindal and supported by 20 Corporates including the Kotak Group, Citibank, IndusInd Bank, BridgeStone, Marico and Borosil.

Parth Jindal, Managing Director, JSW Cements has said that the good performance will inspire many corporates to invest in non-cricket sports, according to a report in The Economic Times. “Our expenditure in Olympic sports is going to increase by 30-40%, and I hope others like Reliance, Adani and Tata will also do the same”, he added.

More Odisha style public-private partnerships

Many experts say that the Odisha’s public-private partnership model is the way forward for Olympic sports. The state government has been supporting the national hockey team through this model and had brought them huge success. Currently, it has partnered with Tata Group for hockey, Reliance Industries for athletics and JSW Sports for swimming.

“We need more public-private partnerships for India to be a global sporting power in the true sense. The two worlds, state and corporates have to come together towards talent building”, said Vinit Karnik, head of sports, esports and entertainment, GroupM South Asia said. 

He also added that a robust grassroots programme should be put in place for identifying and developing the talent, looking after their fitness, nutrition, training and mental health along with academics and support staff.

Further, he said that JSW’s IIS, OGQ, Tata, Reliance Foundation, GoSports are doing a commendable job already, but if more states start using the Odisha model by adopting at least one sport, then the entire dynamics would change.

Experts however caution that public attention might shift from the seven medals won by India at the Tokyo Olympics. So, corporates should invest in non-cricket sports now to get the maximum leverage and sustain the momentum, they added.

Other support programmes

Corporates like Reliance Industries, Adani Group and Tata Group have foundations and trusts which has actively supported sports. Most of these are not-for-profit foundations, which focuses on non-cricket sports as they do not have much support in India and the dearth of public resources hampers the nation’s performance in the global sporting arena.

Reliance has three grassroots programmes namely, Youth Sports (City, State and National level Championships), Young Champs (five-year residential facility for top football talent) and Junior NBA (youth basketball).

Edelweiss group had partnered with the Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ), a programme started by the not-for-profit foundation for the promotion of sports and games, to support women athletes like Ayonika Paul, Mary Kom and PV Sindhu even before they gained recognition.

Edelweiss Group, CEO, Abhishek Gupta said that the company which has sponsored the Indian contingent at many international events, is already in talks with the Indian Olympic Association for extending the partnership.