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The La Liga is back in its full glory, and after a scintillating transfer window, the league promises some cracking contests all around this season. The Spanish League has grown leaps and bounds in terms of global popularity, with, of course, a major push coming from the two GOATS — Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Without getting into that debate, we can comfortably say that India has been a massive market for La Liga over the years, and nothing is stopping its growth. The league opened its first office in India in Delhi in 2017 to give a further push to the ever-expanding market base.
India has always been a land of untapped footballing potential, and La Liga seems all for tapping it for the better.
Sportskeeda caught up with Aakriti Vohra, La Liga Global Network Delegate, India, for a special conversation over La Liga’s efforts to push the league as well as the sport in the country
Q. La Liga has opened its office in India and has been growing ever since. Social media figures have seen an increase of over 2000%. So what has been the catalyst behind this massive growth?
A: We take immense pride that we have grown by over 2000% digitally. When we started the La Liga office in India, we were at around 300,000 followers, and today, we are sitting on over 6.5 million just in India.
In fact, the Indian subcontinent has about 14 million followers, which is around 9-10% of the global following for La Liga. What has really helped us is taking away the language barrier and making sure we engage with them in a way that is relevant to them.
Apart from that, we keep doing digital events and engaging with La Liga legends. We have a La Liga ambassador in Rohit Sharma, the captain of the Indian cricket team.
As part of our international strategy, the headquarters in Madrid keeps coming up with a global campaign set from the Indian perspective.
Q. Rohit Sharma obviously is a huge name to get onboard, and his popularity must have helped. So how did that partnership begin, and what was the thought process behind it?
A: We hold Rohit Sharma in very high regard. Cricket is something that India breathes. It was interesting from the perspective of bringing more sports fans towards football, and Rohit fit the bill perfectly.
His team and he personally, being a Real Madrid supporter, have added value to the authenticity of the partnership. He traveled to Spain to watch some games, and we are very proud to have him as the La Liga India ambassador.
Q. La Liga has joined hands with Viacom, picking them as your broadcasting partners. Can you shed some light on that association?
A: The partnership started last year, and since then, we have been very innovative in our audio-visual journey in India. We started with being on MTV, with them on the TV. On OTT, all our matches are broadcast on Voot Select.
In April, they launched their brand new sports channel, Sports 18, so all our broadcasts will also go there. With the aggressive acquisitions Viacom has done in the past, we will be sitting with some of the biggest sports properties globally.
They have also won the IPL digital rights, and we are more than excited to embark on this journey with them. They are actively involved with us, and building on that relationship is something we are very keenly looking forward to.
Q. Another aspect of La Liga’s activities in India includes the associations between Spanish and Indian clubs to promote and develop football in India. What is your approach towards that?
A: It is a great way for any global entity to engage with any market. We are very happy that clubs like Sevilla and Atletico Madrid have engaged in such partnerships in India.
It shows the seriousness and commitment that the partner has towards being with India in its football journey, and also, it is a mutual synergy between the two. The Spanish clubs provide their technical know-how while the Indian sides help them reach further in the Indian markets.
For us as La Liga, it is our mandate that our clubs get maximum viewership, and when they enter into such partnerships, they only help us, and we are very happy to support them.
CVC has recently partnered with La Liga with the boost plan, giving a massive boost to the clubs. They can focus better on internationalization now.
So we hope more clubs will look at India from a strategic market standpoint and show the kind of commitments others have already shown.
Q. You are working with a great initiative called the La Liga football schools to promote the grassroots development of football in the country. Can you shed some light on the same?
A: La Liga football schools are a passion project for the La Liga India office. It is a pan-India project. When it launched before the pandemic, it touched 10,000 girls and boys in 14 cities across 35-40 centers.
So it is a great way to engage on a pan-India level. Furthermore, it gave us a chance to bring the Spanish methodologies to aspiring Indian kids. We have revived the program after the pandemic and intend to grow it multifold.
In terms of supporting initiatives in India, the La Liga foundation and the women’s department of La Liga also have a partnership with the Rural Development Trust in Anantapur and the Vicente Ferrer Foundation, where over 2000 boys and girls play in this amazing rural league with the 20 mandals in the area.
Last season, we also went ahead and supported a residential academy, through which 20 girls have graduated. In fact, talent development and football experience are a global mandate for La Liga.
Grassroots is a strong point of emphasis that La Liga looks at globally. In 2015, the La Liga sports project started. Since then, 500 sports projects in 40 countries, touching around 750 coaches and 20,000 local coaches, have coached almost 175,000 students.
We have also launched a grassroots program called the La Liga Talents and Academy program. It's a residential program. There is a state-of-the-art academy in Madrid that takes promising students and gives them a holistic experience of not just football but education as well.
As a league, we believe in giving back to society, and grassroots development is our core.
Q. It is the dream of every football fan in India to see Spanish giants like FC Barcelona and Real Madrid come here to play friendlies. There have been talks regarding inviting at least a few clubs to India for the same. Where do you stand on those plans currently?
A: It is also my dream to see Robert Lewandowski face off against Karim Benzema while playing in India. It will of course depend on the viability of costing, bringing two full squads to India, etc.
We have to make sure that all the logistics and requirements are taken care of. There are promoters involved that make sure that the event can happen from a financial perspective.
So, of course, there are plans and you will be the first to know when they come to reality. Hopefully in my time with La Liga, we will see big friendlies in India.
Q. La Liga has organized several fan events to interact with football fans in the country. What goes behind these fan events and how has been the response thus far?
A: Fan connect is one of the key pillars of how we position ourselves in the country. We have done public viewings, like match screenings, of El Clasico in Delhi twice, with crowds ranging from 10,000 to 17,000. We’ve done them in Kolkata and Mumbai as well.
And now, with the pandemic hopefully behind us, we can expect some things at least at a substantial scale. We keep inviting La Liga legends to the country.
We have had interactions between Rohit Sharma and football fans. We have invited these legends to the screenings. So all of these come under a 360-degree plan that goes towards making the right noises in the market.
