He was speaking at the CII Media & entertainment Summit on India -The
Big Picture today at the session on Sports & Entertainment here. Coca-Cola
has heavily invested in cricket and the driving factor is that cricket is a
passion and a sort of religion, which can increase the viewership manifold if
Indians or Indian national team plays. However, he hinted that dependence on
one form of sports is not the ideal approach since that would lead to
unbalanced growth of sports in the country.
Underscoring the need for creating platforms for going beyond cricket, Mr Singh opined that
sports like tennis, wrestling, football, archery etc., where India has
excellent talents should be developed through corporate sponsorship and
proactive governmental support. Also, matrix of sponsorship also would change
from big ticket events to grassroots level tournaments. He mentioned that
corporations sponsor school level football tournaments.
Mr Singh cautioned the corporations not to look for
immediate results and dividends from sponsorship games other than cricket.
There should be a long term and sustained approach to support such games. What
is more important is creation of world class talents, who can capture the
imagination of masses.
Mr David Hill, Senior Executive Vice President, New Corp
said that sports gives a country a national identity. India , he said,
has a lot of dormant sports talents, which should be tapped systematically for
national good. Sports, is predominantly a middle class indulgence and India ’s middle
class touching one billion by 2025, sports would receive a lot of attention
than what it is now. Comparing the development of sports in India with countries like the US and China ,
he said that sports in India
have to go a long way to emerge as a major entertainer. In US, there are many
television channels exclusively dedicated to sports.
Giving out some of the vital statistics regarding world of
sports, Mr Hill observed that world-wide sports contribute 3 per cent of the
world’s GDP. The US
spends about US$ 15.7 billion on football alone and there are more than 150
institutions dedicated to promote football in that country. Indian expenditure
on sports falls far below than what it is required.
Mr Harish Thawani, Executive Chairman, Nimbus Communications
said that sports infrastructure is inadequate. California
has more golf courses than the entire India . Referring to the lack of
corporate support in India ,
he said that there are budgets for CSR and massive commitment for
advertisements but practically nil allotment for sports among most of the
corporations.
Ms Sonali Chander, Editorial Consultant, NDTV Nirmal Marks
for Sports Campaign said that sports has taken a beak seat in children’s
education. Not many parents are willing to send their children for sports for
whatever could be the reason. Aspirations would play a major role in shaping
excellence in sports. For this there should be huge government support.
However, Col RS Rathore, Indian shooter maintained that
sportsmanship need not get manifested in playing the popular games. “What we
need to give children infrastructure in their vicinity for sports and games, he
added.
Athlete Ashwani Nachappa echoing the same feelings said that
space for sports was shrinking as also the government support. She also
stressed the need for developing community sports. That model can create more
sports persons for the country.
Press release
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