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Players from Indian teams, Sky Kings Hyderabad (blue) and War Hawks of Bangalore (maroon) particiapte in Elite Football League of India (EFLI) exhibition match at Begumpet Hockey stadium in Hyderabad on July 20, 2013.
One season down, another in the pipeline; a first season with all teams owned by the league, the second will see new team owners; an anomaly in the first season, a new entrant in the sporting landscape in the second.
That in short, ladies and gentlemen, is about the Elite Football League of India (EFLI). After touching down on Indian shores with its first season in 2012-13, this American football league is gearing up for a second coming.
For a brief recap of what went on in the first season, you can check out this earlier piece on the EFLI and its debut season. And while you are at it, you can also have a look at the teams that performed the best.
Back to the league, when you come into a country where one sport dominates mindshare and most sporting discussions over everything else, it is a huge gamble. The existing sports themselves have tried, and tried hard that to break cricket’s stronghold on the Indian public. And for a good portion of the time, it’s been a losing battle.
Football, tennis, hockey, badminton and others have all had their moments in the sun, but in the long run, have not been able to supplant cricket in the minds of people. So a new entrant, and that too, a sport that is popular predominantly in the States, needs solid backing when it comes to testing unchartered waters.
And in that way, the EFLI has brought in a solid team of persons, who have considerable expertise in the sport, and its presentation back home.
The dream of American football in India becoming a reality owes it to these people for getting their heads together and pitching in on the proposition.
It was in August 2011 that this group of enthusiasts and philanthropists came together.
Two of the earliest investors in the league were pro football hall of famer Mike Ditka and former NFL quarterback Kurt Warner.
Kurt Warner
In addition to those two, Hollywood actor Mark Wahlberg, named by Time Magazine as amongst the 100 Most Influential People in the World, joined in as an investor, and so did ESPN’s NFL analyst Ron Jaworski and former Green Bay Packers’ linebacker Brandon Chillar, as well as the Dallas Cowboys’ former wide receiver Michael Irvin. Chillar is an Indian-American who became the Highest Paid Indian athlete in the NFL.
In fact, Ditka, Irvin, Warner and Jaworski were all TV analysts at the time when they became investors.
Gibran Hamden, the first Professional Pakistani NFL Player, is also part of the advisory team of the EFLI.
An initial investment of US$5 million is what the EFLI began with them hoping to raise an additional US$3 million through the first season. And while a successful business model is something that each of them are working towards, a bigger motivation for each of these investors to shell out the money seems to be a hope that this league can help in addressing the needs of India’s underprivileged.
Award-winning quarterback during his days and currently a part-time TV analyst and philanthropist, Kurt Warner is said to have donated $50,000 and along with his wife Brenda, he is working to try and help provide equipment such as footballs, from the Warner Family, to schools in the country.
“I am extremely excited about the possibilities of the EFLI. I became a partner for two primary reasons.”, exclaimed Warner at the time, proceeding to explain in detail the two reasons.
“First, to expand the reach of what I believe is the greatest team sport in the world. The game of football has a chance to impact the lives of many people and families in India, like it did for mine.”
“Second, I believe the success of EFLI will present us with some amazing opportunities to impact their communities from a charitable perspective. I believe we will be able to use the great game of football to truly impact the people of India, both on and off the field, and help many to improve on their quality of life”, added Warner.
Mark Wahlberg
Actor Mark Wahlberg shared similar sentiments too, talking about making a difference through the foundation.
“When I learned of the premise and passion behind the foundation, there was no question that I would commit to the cause, the EFLI is changing the lives of countless numbers of India’s poor and underprivileged. I anxiously look forward to the inaugural 2012 season.”, Wahlberg had said.
The actor of course, unlike the other investors, is providing his support through media appearances and personal introductions.
The league has two co-CEOs – Richard Whelan and Sunday Zeller.
Whelan was part of the think-tank that came up with the strategy of shooting and producing the game ahead of time, and then editing and compressing it to make it shorter and more interesting for the Indian public.
“Money comes from TV viewership; if you want to make money in India, you have to make sports that are TV-viewer worthy,” he had said.
“Live is an old-fashioned model, where people go to the stadium, TV is the only way it’s going to be successful. We didn’t give a damn about selling tickets, what are we going to sell 20,000 tickets?”, said Whelan.
Whelan has a history of working with up-and-coming sports leagues such as the Arena Football League back in America. He had said that the demand for this kind of entertainment is very, very high in India, believing that the population has a ravenous appetite for ventures from America such as other sports leagues, WWE and other popular TV shows. As such, he has his hopes pinned high.
“(American) Football will surpass cricket, just as it did baseball here in the United States,” said Whelan sounding extremely confident.
He has also enlisted the services of Madison Capital Market Groups to help with the fund raising for the league’s expansion, which is set to be in the region of $10 million to $15 million.
“They have the potential to be a well-known brand, we get to participate in what could be a great story.”, senior managing director of Madison’s Capital Markets Group, Barry Peterson had revealed.
Perhaps Whelan’s optimism is infectious. He has nothing but the stars in sight for EFLI.
“Our timing is dead-on, one day the Mumbai Gladiators will be worth more than the New York Yankees.”, opined the co-CEO.
The other co-CEO, Sunday Zeller, is a brand marketing consultant who founded the league after an idea that struck her during a business trip to India back in the 90s. And hence was born EFLI, as she looked to combine providing another athletic opportunity for the Indian male to pursue along with trying and establishing a program to develop American football at the grassroots level.
The EFLI team also decided that with the financial muscle in place, they now needed an expert advisory team to help make the game more marketable and saleable to an audience. So they roped in Ed Goren (former Fox Sports executive), Sandy Grossman (8-time Emmy Award Winning TV Sports Director).
EFLI Founder & co-CEO Sunday Zeller (left) and EFLI Director of Strategic Alliances, Ed Goren (right)
Goren has a staggering 47 Emmy Awards to his name and is a former President and Vice Chairman at Fox Sports. The award winning executive joined as Director of Strategic Alliances and is one of the Board members.
“My intention is to help the EFLI become one of the most recognizable brands in India’s young, vibrant and growing sports industry. It is an extraordinary opportunity to work with the number one sports broadcaster in a market that is five times larger than that of the United States with, relatively speaking, much less competition from other Indian branded sports leagues. I feel our timing of entry is right. As we move forward some of these young players will be the future stars of the EFLI.”, Goren had said.
Well-known American football broadcaster Sandy Grossman has been one of the key components of the team with his expertise in TV production and relay in the sport. He is the man who directed and produced each of the games in season one of the EFLI.
“I had a meeting with one of my former bosses at FOX and I was asked if I would like to go to India and produce and direct American Football games for them, and I jumped at the chance. It is a new culture. The game is relatively new, and that is what is more exciting.”, Grossman had said at the opportunity.
Not just production, but he also helped impart some tricks of the trade to the other members of the production crew so that they could create shows of their own in future that had the potential to sustain the levels of interest amongst the watching public.
And finally, not to forget, Ten Sports has been a big partner for the league, for their willingness to take up such a project which had no previous grounding in the country.
According to Atul Pande, CEO of Ten Sports, it was a very low-risk investment.
“The key with products like this one is not to get overambitious in what it wants to achieve.”, said Pande.
Also, unlike the final format in which it was televised, Pande and Ten Sports actually recommended live format for the matches, though it was not ultimately carried out.
“We had recommended doing it live because non-live ratings drop by 90%. If you want to create a new sport, then it’s better something happens locally, to get people in the stadium and build local heroes.” said Pande.
How important Ten Sports’ willingness to partner with the league was best summed up by EFLI consultant Tom O’Grady who had revealed – “Having a deal with Ten Sports was critical to considering the IPO.”
That’s the A-team assembled by the EFLI to help them reach critical mass with the offering.
The start has been made, an earnest one at that. How they can keep that momentum going and capitalize on opportunities that come up to build the sport will of course unfold before our very eyes.
But then, that’s what they have this stellar team for, to help them through such phases and ultimately goad them towards their objective of establishing not just a profitable sporting venture, but also one that has a deep-lying social impact on the players, coaches and other officials that it employs.
