Colonialism brought with it seeds of sport to flourish as means to reach the then discontented masses. Cricket and football were taken up with equal enthusiasm in the colonial era. Social clubs playing either sport or both, sprouted in presidencies within the geographical boundaries of colonial India. Soon enough the masters where given a run for their money, as sport rapidly took up a central position in anti-colonial sentiments. Beating the Raj at what they took pride in was high on the agenda and hence the early signs of fanaticism in Indian sport took shape. History bears witness to the talent and fanfare both Cricket and football enjoyed prior independence.
In the immediate years following independence, the spillover effects where unimaginable especially in football where India established itself as one of Asia’s best. As political leaders looked to resurrect a broken economy and alleviate its structural problems, success on the sporting field kept the masses in hope of a better tomorrow. The 1983 world cup triumph capping cricket’s moment of glory.
With the 20th century drawing closer, recreation and sport had filed for divorce. Globalization had brought with it privatization and a host of tools to commercialize sport, broadly termed as marketing. Professionalism in all aspects became the order of the day; recreation took a back a seat. A new Industry which could be explained from every economic line of thought was born.
In India, Cricket caught the bus, building a brand and marketing it well, the question is why did Football miss it?
There are a number of reasons for failing to hop on, some obvious, others debatable. The reasons being discussed in depth many a time by experts, this research aims to study whether football in India can thrive again in the way it used to.
For this, a model has been developed , and through this model I will be studying the Consumer Behavior towards the efficacy of a short and potentially attractive tournament in Indian football to complement the existing one. The model is described in brief as follows:
ALL STAR FOOTBALL LEAGUE OF INDIA
•An IPL like franchise model covering a team from each city. The following cities/ state are under initial consideration with additions to be made if necessary
Kolkata, Goa, Delhi, Mumbai, Kerala, Bangalore, Chennai, Chandigarh, Pune, Assam, Manipur/Meghalaya/Sikkim, Chandigarh.
• Each Indian team/ franchise will tie up with a foreign club of repute. The following clubs are under Initial consideration.
Man Utd, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Blackburn Rovers, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Man City, Tottenham Hotspur, Celtic, Rangers. ( example: Chandigarh Chelsea,Manchester Mumbai etc.)
• The tournament is to be functional for a month with initial league matches played in two groups of six teams each. Two teams from each group qualify for the semifinals and their winners play the finals.
• Each Indian franchise will bid for one of the above clubs and the highest bidder will receive rights to use name, imagery and publicity rights to promote the foreign clubs and its own name in the Indian market.
• The foreign club apart from lending its property rights to reach out to the Indian consumer, will also provide coaching and technical expertise.
•The foreign club is to provide 5 players of proven caliber ( youngsters or stars towards the end of their careers), to which 11 Indian nationals, 2 foreign players who have played in India for more than 2 years and two under-19 Indian players, are to be added to make a 20 man squad.
•All matches to be played on weekends during off season of international club football and post conclusion of the I-league. Matches to be played under floodlights.
• Matches to be telecasted live and deferred along with highlight packages and interactive sessions hosted by partnering television channels. ( preferably Espnstar)
A point to be noted is that this tournament is not a rival to the I-league and in fact aims to increase standards of the I-league by increasing competition for places. With improved standards and mass awareness through the proposed tournament, the Indian players and those based in India, will not only receive recognition but football in India will get a much needed boost in terms of media coverage and sponsorships.
With the above model in mind, answer the following questions. Please take your time to think before you answer each question!!
I am undertaking this research for my dissertation required to complete an M.A. Degree in Economics from Loyola College Chennai and of course since I live for football!
Mail me for suggestions/queries: debanjanjoey@gmail.com
Thank you very much for your time and please follow the link given below for the survey.
http://www.kwiksurveys.com/online-survey.php?surveyID=IJHMJO_41c12f20
7 Comments
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Rahul Saxena Joined 0 pointsA one month football turnament may give Indian players some expoure with playing among the international stars and may have some minor incremental improvement in their own game.
But a professional players skills are honed with year-long drills and practices with kicks, tackles and passes practiced again and again thousands of time throughout the year and with high-level games played for extended period of time throughout the year. Which means that the effectiveness of any such proposal for a City-based Frachchise tournament must be measured against one basic factor ..and that is how exactly does it benifit the I-league,? i.e. how exactly does it benifit the finances, infrasture etc of I-league entitiees such as its clubs and organizing entitees ?
commented on 2nd Feb 2011 at 6:46 pm -
Rahul Saxena Joined 0 points
Debanjan, I think the ideas proposed in your article are innovative and thoughful. Any such undertaking of a tournament should be measured against achieving a few objectives as below I think.
1. Results in Increase particpation in Grassroots level of football in India.
2. Improves the performance of professional players in India.
3. Improves the physical football infrastructire in India
4. Related to 2 and 3 above: Strenghtens the level of the game in I-league. I-league is the ultimate provving ground and traing platform where the professionals hone their skills day in day out. I-league is run mainly by the existing football clubs. Willl the proposal strengthen the finances of these clubs ? How ? For I-league to go up..the clubs need to have better finances to run serious year-long youth academies, have better grounds and training facilitees etc…
Or will it just result in the public-money being skimmed by these fly-by-night city based fracchises run by actors etc ? For e.g. How will your porposal improve the finances of Pune FC, Shillong Lajong ? as opposed to improving the finances of Shah-Rukh Khan or Shilpa Shetty ?Pl contemplate on how your proposal or a future versions of the above will do against the above achievements.
commented on 2nd Feb 2011 at 6:33 pm -
Joeybaggie (Debanjan Banerjee) Joined 0 points
1.There are again three ways to increase participation. Improve grass root infrastructure or the demonstration effect or a mixture of both. Premier and european league telecasts have increased participation In India with no significant improvement in participation.( demonstration effect)
2.As i said in the reply to Ash. Competition will improve efficiency in participation as well as product distribution ( INdian football as a product in this case).There are no two ways to that. Read below!
Hence the basic reason for not including present clubs in the league since they monopolize the football structure in india
Professionalism will be on a higher level coz the world is watching and europe is participating.3. Think of this, a better league would demand better infrastructure for it to keep functioning once it is set off. So if you already have a sucessfull year, the next year, teams will try to build on infrastructure to attract fans, cut down on cost and even academies to hone their own players.
And imagine with 12 or so top class tie ups where setting up an academy is mandatory for the foreign team…Indian football will be reaping more than losing. Serves both purposes grassroots as well as publicity for sponsors. And these clubs wouldnt mind doing so considering the extent of the Indian population they could reach to by marketing their brand there after.
A detailed analysis of the whole survey can be made once i finish with the data collection. I’ll send you a copy :)
commented on 2nd Feb 2011 at 7:03 pm -
Ash Joined 0 points
Mate this 1 month League is not going to help Indian Football in any way.I think your same ideas can be used to restructure I-League which is in dead condition right now.
commented on 2nd Feb 2011 at 1:07 pm -
Joeybaggie Joined 0 points
I wouldnt discount your view, thats what is most apparent isnt it? Promoting sports in a developing world is difficult, especially in A big country like India. You can take two approach, either target the base of the pyramid or the top.In the case of India, the trickle down effect or targeting the top is an immediate way out as base restructuring will take ages.
When there is demand for a particular service or good the quality of supply wont be below par especially when the segment targeted isnt the day to day consumer good. You must realize that when there are consumers ready to accept a certain plan there will be no dearth of sponsors to back it up.
The I league has negligible demand and only something with an immediate impact might create some for it. Imagine, if the ASL is a success, the Local Indian players will be raising their levels in the I league to book their spot in the ASL. The I league will benefit with improved quality of play due to competition. Basic concept of economics/business. -Competition improves efficiency.Bigger I league clubs will demand those who perform well in the ASL, as a result player wages will increase substantially. With rising player wages and improving quality, corporate sponsorship is bound creep in to cash in on the publicity.
The ASL, the corporates, The I-League and even the players through familiarity will be targeting a sole group to be successful in their respective motives . ie. the Indian football consumer. Without active fans football is nothing.
Hence this survey serves two purposes 1) To study the behaviour of an Indian football fan in the prospect of change 2) To use these results in making the game more marketable
PEOPLE DO FILL THIS UP!!! AND PLEASE FEEL FREE TO DROP IN ANY SUGGESTIONS YOU WISH ON MY MAIL. WILL UPDATE EVERY ONE WITH THE RESULTS AFTER A MONTH!!
commented on 2nd Feb 2011 at 5:16 pm -
Abhik Joined 0 points
Hi Debanjan,your forcasting is absolutely true,but what is the point in increasing a mediocore players salary, i agree the fan following will increase for the presence of european stars,but they won’t be playing in i-league anyway!! the indian players would have to compete with the 2 foriegners for glory,when they achieve success,they would recieve a substantial increase of salary.but the improvement due to such league would be like a drop in the ocean,but i believe the scouting network would improve,so benefit to the indian national team..
commented on 7th Feb 2011 at 1:58 am
thats a temporaray solution what we need is to have clubs like Chirag,ONGC,DEMPO,Churchill,SAlgaockar,JCT associate themselves witha certain city.
for eg we have gud city based team like East bengal,Mohun Bagan,PFC,LAjong,viva kerala ,spoting club de goa which have the fan following.
now the insistutional team needs to catch up for eg:JCT Faridabad,DempoPanjim.salgaockar salcette,
like the K league..
and big shots like ambani,mittal,venky,narayan murthy,jindal,tata,birla,dhoot, should be asked to come and open a team..