Quick, which is the fastest growing industry in the US? Pharmaceuticals? No. Biotech? Maybe. Sports? That's a definite possibility. A recent study by Sports Business Journal puts the size of the industry at over $200 billion (Rs 8,80,000 crore), more than three-times the size of Hollywood. In India, however, the sports economy is just beginning to take wing. One thing that will help will be the creation of events packaged to cater to the domestic market. "Interestingly, most of the sports that generate big business in the us are purely domestic events," says Ravi Krishnan, Managing Director, IMG India. "NASCAR, National Football League or National Basketball Association are purely local events."

IMG's Ravi Krishnan: Big bucks come from domestic events

One disadvantage India has is that it seems to have tied its fortunes to those of cricket. And cricket is a minnow on the global stage in terms of money-power. The last Soccer World Cup generated $100 billion (Rs 4,90,000 crore at the then exchange rate) in revenues; the last Cricket World Cup did $600 million (Rs 2,820 crore then). Why, even the English Premier league is watched by some 350 million fans across 20 countries. "Thanks to its world-class packaging and telecast, the event is building a strong viewership base in India too," says R.C. Venkateish, Managing Director, ESPN star Sports. So, how much is the Indian cricket industry worth? All of Rs 1,200 crore a year.

As Jamie Stewart, Global Sponsorships Manager, International Cricket Council (ICC), points out, "The fact remains that the Indian sports industry has not even made a serious attempt at realising its full potential." "Forget football or hockey, even cricket's full commercial potential is yet to be exploited in India," adds Lokesh Sharma, Managing Director, 21st Century Media.

BCCI Vice President and Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Shukla agrees that "cricket can become a Rs 5,000- crore business". And he is talking only about the revenue that the cricket board can raise. "We haven't yet explored possibilities in merchandising, licensing, ticketing, hospitality and other related areas. Even the telecast rights market for cricket is highly undervalued," he adds. Going by the recent battle over the telecast rights (see Broadcast Battles), it's clear that there is a significant market for Indian cricket; it's just that those at the helm of affairs seem completely oblivious of the value of the enterprise they run. Yet, BCCI is not alone in its slothfulness.

The entire sports management industry is unanimous on one issue: Be it hockey, football, tennis, or any other sport, all have suffered because of the callousness of their managers. "Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy, Durand Cup, Davis Cup, used to be extremely popular sports events till a decade ago," says Harish Thawani, Executive Chairman, Nimbus Communications. "With the increase in per capita incomes, expansion of broadcast networks, and a slew of corporates willing to align with sports, these events could have become cash cows for their owners and, in the process, helped expand the business of sports in the country."

The popular refrain of sports federations regarding media apathy and lack of interest among the public seems quite tenuous, if one looks at the attendance figures for tennis, football, even hockey. Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) chief K.P.S. Gill himself discloses that "hockey matches in places like Jalandhar and Rourkela pull anywhere between 20,000 and 25,000 audience in stadiums, a number which even cricket can't match". Then, he doesn't see the need to monetise this popularity. He doesn't want hockey to be "urbanised and commercialised" like cricket. "Hockey is a poor man's game and I don't mind if it remains so," he says. All very laudable, but that doesn't help the sport anyway (not unless the government prints enough money to keep the sport funded and that's bad economics).

What the organisations in charge of various sports haven't realised, broadcasters have. As early as 1996, espn offered to partner the All India Football Federation (AIFF) in the creation of a domestic football league (the sports channel had committed Rs 10 crore for 10 years). The deal fell through, because the AIFF insisted on having the matches covered by Doordarshan (now Prasar Bharti) also. Last year, ESPN signed a 10-year deal with the IHF to create a domestic league, the Professional Hockey League (see The PHL Experiment), at an investment of Rs 5 crore a year. And Zee Sports has committed the same amount to a football league.

The PHL Experiment If it works, it will showcase the benefits of a professional league.

PHL: Package for television Tweak the rules of the game a bit to make it more television-friendly, spread a smattering of global stars across the teams, find sponsors for some of the teams (if not all), and throw in some marketing razzmatazz such as endorsements by popular Bollywood stars and cheerleaders. Sounds good? Well that's what ESPN STAR Sports tried with hockey (the Professional Hockey League or PHL) and the experiment seems to have worked. Indian Hockey Federation chief K.P.S. gill, for one, is all praise for the channel, which along with Kolkata-based sports management agency Leisure Sports, designed PHL. "Hockey never got a good response on TV earlier because Doordarshan could never understand the need to invest in building the game," he says. In Hyderabad, where all matches were played, the league was a big hit with some matches attracting crowds exceeding 20,000 and registering "regional TRPs toucing 5" according to a ESPN STAR Sports spokesperson. Then, there's the fact that ESPN STAR and Leisure Sports managed to rope in sponsors like Western Union, SmithKlime Beecham and Adidas. The broadcaster may not have made any money on PHL (it is estimated to have spent around Rs 4 crore and the pay-back should come once the league establishes itself), but the very fact that Zee Sports is now trying to do something similar with the All India Football Federation says it all.

The exploits of Sania Mirza, Narain Karthikeyan, Arjun Atwal and Rajyavardhan Rathore have caught the imagination of a new generation of sports managers who seem determined to push sports federations into action. "The Indian sports market has all the necessary ingredients to become a fast growing industry, rising stars, booming broadcast business, increasing market value of corporates and one of the biggest viewership markets. There is no reason why it should not be able to write a success story like Bollywood," says Gary Lovejoy, Chief Operating Officer, Zee Sports. It well could.