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Football has long been one of the most-loved sports in the country, being among the top three most popular sports. With the inception of the Indian Super League, the footballing landscape has undoubtedly changed, while the league has also endeavored to get Indian football global recognition.
Many clubs compete in the league regularly, but only a few have enjoyed fame and acclaim. In that case, it's fair to say, since the inception of ISL, Chennaiyin FC has evolved to be one of the finest & most successful clubs on and off the field. While veterans like John Gregory and Marco Materazzi deserve credit for the club's success, it's equally crucial to recognize the commercial and marketing minds who assisted the team in achieving mainstream success. One such bright mind behind the club's commercial hit is Akhil Prakash.
Akhil leads the Sales and Sponsorship department at Chennaiyin FC. He has been in the role for over five years, having worked with FSDL and RISE as Operations & Venue coordinator. Upon arriving in Chennaiyin, his main objective was to create new sales & marketing strategies for the club to increase commercial growth for one of ISL's finest clubs.
Sportskeeda caught up with Akhil Prakash and had an exclusive chat about the club's commercial success over the years.
Excerpts from Chennaiyin's Akhil Prakash
Q. Hi Akhil, it's a pleasure hosting you on Sportskeeda! So, as a hometown fanboy, you started your stint at CFC as a junior sales executive & now, you're the sales & sponsorship head. So how big is this feat? Could you please walk us through your journey over the years?
Akhil: Hi, it's been a special journey with Chennaiyin FC over the last five years. It's like a family to me. So, after my graduation, I worked with the operations & venue management team at FSDL & it was great working in Indian football. It's also been my passion to work in the sports industry for the longest time.
So, I went abroad & pursued my master's in sports management. Coming back to India, I was lucky to work with Chennaiyin FC as the junior sales manager. I then understood a lot of different facets within the industry and different options, working with the commercial side of the club.
As an assistant manager, I worked on sponsorships and subsequently moved on to marketing and ticketing. So, sure, it's been entertaining. My sixth season at Chennaiyin is approaching. So, yeah, looking forward to it. I got one silver medal in my tenure working for Chennaiyin FC. We're hoping to convert that to gold this year.
Q. Glad to hear that, Akhil. The football industry in India is characterized by its complexity. It operates in a fast-paced environment wherein most clubs do not make a profit. What do you think about the importance of being well-prepared to be able to tackle and face all the challenges the football industry goes through?
Akhil: Obviously, the overall ecosystem is fast and different, we operate within that, and it's sort of a similar situation for everybody. Well, I guess at the moment, from a commercial perspective for Chennaiyin, we do have targets to try and minimize the losses.
It's also by way of increasing sponsorship money that we raise partnerships and ticketing revenue as well. As you're aware, obviously we haven't had any ticketing revenue in the last two years due to COVID. So even that had an impact.
It was a huge challenge when the league was not happening in Chennai. You can't do much of a business either.
This year will be different than the league's back-to-home game format. Obviously, we're hoping to buck that trend this year and return to regulars. But in general, I believe Indian football is a long-term game.
We're all waiting for the right moment when, hopefully, the TV revenue will begin to flow. Once it is done, I believe that many clubs will begin to reach the break-even point.
Q. What are the main challenges a professional football club like Chennaiyin FC faces from a commercial or marketing perspective?
Akhil: I feel it's important to talk about the challenges football clubs face in a cricket-crazed state like Tamil Nadu. We'll have to go back a few years to understand that, right?
Cricket has always been the number one sport in Chennai or the state, right? And if we go back eight, nine years and see when the ISL started, you know that some regions would be popular for it, say Goa, Kolkata, and of course, Kerala.
Added to that is the fact that these are already states that have budding football culture. That, in a sense, could be easy.
But the commercial aspects don't work for a club like Chennaiyin compared to Kerala Blasters. We have had a lot of challenges promoting the footballing culture in our state, and hopefully, with the right strategies, we have fostered that culture in our state over the last eight years.
Eight years and now, thanks to Mrs. Vita Dani's leadership, we've organically tried to build a very passionate fan base. You can see the audience turn up on TV with the sort of banners and defaults that they carry to the stands.
We also try to curate the best content across Digital Media, and, of course, you can see the rise of our social media as well.
Speaking about Chennaiyin's commercial aspects
Q. Could you list some of the latest milestones Chennaiyin FC has achieved through the strategies implemented?
Akhil: To be fair, we have lots in store to achieve in the forthcoming years. But to proudly speak out, we did achieve big from a commercial perspective. We are a club that has had a reputation from a commercial standpoint in the market of being someone that brands enjoy working with us.
If you look at it, the association for jersey & principal sponsorship, Apollo Tyres & Nivia Sports, is now the longest-standing association for seasons in ISL history. This is the sixth year, and the association is still going strong.
And you definitely look at Acko Insurance, Nippon Paint, Dafa News, and Workafella. So, these are all brands that, year on year, keep coming back with the club and wanting to continue the partnership.
We thank all our partners. We consider it very important and appreciate the amount of trust and investment they put into us. They put their faith in the club and the system, and that's very encouraging for us.
Q. Can you tell us more about CFC's sponsorship strategy? How has the sponsorship landscape for CFC changed over the years? How are you guys planning for on-stadium brand activations?
Akhil: So, in the last two years, you would have noticed that the focus has been heavy on digital media. We are working very hard on the video content bit where we produce interesting content for sponsors.
We also do a lot of brand activations during the season like virtual fan meets, memorabilia giveaways, and, of course, social media promotions in line with glorifying elements of our state.
This year, we're back at home stadiums with fans coming live. We're planning to do some on-ground activations for the sponsors as well. We will do our best to promote the brand to our wider fanbase.
With us continuing in the market, hopefully, all these partners will come in to help add to the flavor for the new season.
Elaborating on Chennaiyin's digital media & fan engagement strategy
Q. Can you tell us about the club's digital strategy from a commercial standpoint?
Akhil: So, as a club, we don't value commercializing the entire digital media content. Many clubs have an option where they put specific videos only behind a paywall. You pay for digital membership and get excited to watch it, right?
But for us, the objective from our side is to try and engage with more audiences across Tamil Nadu. So, if you look at it, we are also trying to do much more content in Tamil.
We try to curate different and exciting content in Digital Media. Behind the scenes, it's 360 degrees as to what's happening at the club, the players, and management.
It's been exciting to push for more fun content as fans will obviously love it. Knowing that fans will come and enjoy more of the content we are putting out, we'll take it from there.
We do a lot of branded content for our partners, but we try not to make it just about the brand. We're trying to make it about the club so the fans will also enjoy that.
Q. Will the marketing department develop any innovative campaign that allows the players to get involved with the fans? (Like Metaverse) Also, can you talk about the offline fan engagement this year?
Akhil: We at Chennaiyin FC believe that the club's heart is its fans. I think you are already aware that we are the first team in which all three of our jerseys were designed by fans.
We invited fans to participate in this exciting campaign, and the response was overwhelming. While Metaverse and other interactive internet experiences are present this year, I feel the focus is much more on the ground.
So, to make it more economical for fans to purchase our season tickets, you can now get a season pass at a slightly nominal rate rather than paying for the entire ten matches separately. We offer discounted passes for home games.
And obviously, we've kept in mind that sometimes somebody may not be able to attend, so you will get different passes for different games, and you can give them to your friend if you cannot attend, which also makes life a little easier.
Something that we're going to be doing in a big way is making ticketing completely electronic. So, this year, you will be able to buy e-tickets completely.
Lastly, until last year, fans had to go to the indoor stadium, redeem the tickets bought online, pay for home delivery of tickets, and then come. So, we removed that process.
You can directly come and show the QR on the phone. In fact, we will also be placing the QR code outside all the gates. Again, life gets easier.
Q. Now, can we talk more about the ticketing aspect? So, over the last few seasons, football was forced to take place behind closed doors, with fans forced to watch it online, which they gradually got used to. So, returning to the matches, they will be played at home grounds, and fans will likely be there. So, what strategy will you use this year to bring fans closer to home, and how are you planning to get to the 2018 & 2019 crowds, reflecting the social shift?
Akhil: Yes. So this is what we were thinking about it. We sat with our ticketing partners at BookMyShow and tried to figure out how we would do this. We are in the process of developing the entire marketing plan for this, and you will see that the tickets will be available at very nominal rates.
We will also be running certain special offers. Say for students, we plan on giving some complimentary offers. The ISL is trying to keep it on weekends as much as possible so people can come in easily.
We are trying to see if we can also put in a request to Chennai Metro Rail if they can run late during match days. A couple of trains a little late on match days would help people get back home in a more convenient way. We're trying to have that conversation. Hopefully, we can make that happen as efforts are being planned.
In fact, more than us, I think the fans want to come back to the stadium, and obviously, they are keen to watch live matches in the home stadiums. Star Sports and Disney Plus Hotstar are also places to go out and watch the game.
However, to experience the thrill of the Marina Arena, you can only do it at the stadium. We have an excellent relationship with the Super Machans and B-stand Blues, and we often talk to them. And whenever there is feedback, we try and incorporate that.
Q. How do you value fandom? Could you please share your points on how the Super Machans and B-Stand Blues are adding value to the franchise on a commercial view?
Akhil: I think it's not just the value they bring in. I think they are everything to the club, in a big way. Without Super Machans or BSB, it would not have been possible to have brought the club all over the years.
I think, yeah, everything, all of the credit is down to them. To be honest, we are excited to see what they do in terms of their new banners this year, and you know how they welcome the team.
I think the last time we played was February 29, 2020, against FC Goa, in the semi-final. I still can't forget the reception they gave to the team bus. We hope they'll do an even bigger reception for our first home match this season.
Q. In your role as Commercial head for Chennaiyin FC, what are your key objectives for the next 1-3 years?
Akhil: I'd like to bring in new sponsors who have never worked with the team before and strengthen relationships with existing ones. And to ensure that all of our partners are exceedingly delighted and thrilled to continue partnering with Chennaiyin FC for future seasons.
And this year, specifically as the head of ticketing, I want to try bringing at least 25,000 fans to every match at the stadium.
I see more trends taking place in the Indian sports industry, so we're trying as hard to get in and cater to the experiences that fans need. The ecosystem will become bigger, and more people will be interested in joining the Indian football ecosystem, whether it is broadcasters, sponsors, foreign clubs, or even fans.
We're working hard towards that, and I'm sure you guys at Sportskeeda will also help Chennaiyin FC by promoting our content and tickets a little bit. Thank you!
