Interest in Dempo: Can Shah Rukh Khan save the football business in India?

June 10, 2012

Sharukh_Football_Craze

Actually, our association with football has long played out like a match that promised much but displayed only flashes of brilliance.

A brilliant moment would be the inaugural Premier League Soccer in Kolkata last year, but soon after a setback, much like an ugly tackle that breaks the rhythm of play, would arrive in the form of a free fall in rankings. Khan's entry might restore parity to Indian football, say experts.

The reason is that the business of football in India is in a shambles. In the past two years, two clubs - JCT FC and Mahindra United - were disbanded after they became commercially unviable. Incumbents are not faring any better - participants in the I-League, the top-tier Indian club format, are not making money.

Shrinivas Dempo, chairman of the Dempo Group of Companies, says no club in India is even close to a break-even.

Liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya's UB Group is said to be having second thoughts about sponsoring two Kolkata clubs, Mohun Bagan and East Bengal.

Telecom major Bharti Airtel, which once harboured ambitions to develop football in India, is today promoting the game in Africa.

Football


*UB is principal sponsor of Mohun Bagan and East bengal, not a promoter All these teams participate in the I-League, the top-tier club format in India

Poor Business

Owners are still keeping their clubs afloat, but with minimal returns and rising costs, (see Costs of Running an I-League Team) they might as well be investing in a government welfare scheme where the money doesn't reach the needy, according to Prashant Singh, director, Octagon, a sports and entertainment marketing company.


Football__ratio

Former India captain Baichung Bhutia had earlier said more clubs will meet the fate of Mahindra United and JCT unless the All India Football Federation, the game's governing body in India, finds ways to make them better commercial entities. He said the absence of a fanbase was the undoing of those clubs.

On both counts, Bhutia was spot on. India is watching football alright, but it is the foreign kind. Tam research says only 7.8 million watched I-League on TV compared with the 25.8 million who followed the English Premier League in the last season.

The difference is because Indian football is football in slow motion, according to Singh, partly because matches are played on grounds with blades of grass that are 6-8 inches high.

In some I-League matches last season, the turnout at stadia was as low as 50, again a commentary on the quality of the game in India. The low attendance is a big blow to clubs, given that gate revenues form a lion's share of their paltry revenues.

Most clubs are hardly run as commercial enterprises. Unlike in the West, no club in India owns a stadium. Few are ready to host matches. Clearly, the culture of football clubs as they exist overseas is missing in India. Clubs around the world feed their national teams with players. It is the opposite in India.

One reason why JCT and Mahindra United folded was their reluctance to accept sponsorship, according to a person familiar with the matter. Representatives of the groups were unavailable for comment.


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Agencies
March 13,2020

New Delhi, Mar 13: The remaining ODI series between India and South Africa has been called-off amidst the rising concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.

"The second and third ODI between India and South Africa in Lucknow and Kolkata respectively are called off," the BCCI source told media persons.

The first match of the series was abandoned due to rain and wet outfield without a toss at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) stadium on Thursday.

The second and third ODI was scheduled to be played at Lucknow and Kolkata on March 15 and 18 respectively. Earlier on Thursday, the BCCI has decided to play the remaining two ODIs behind closed doors.

"After holding discussions with the MYAS and MOHFW, the BCCI on Thursday announced that the remaining two One-day Internationals (ODIs) of the three-match series of South Africa tour of India, 2020, will be played without any public gathering, including spectators," the BCCI had said in a statement.

The Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry has advised all the federations to avoid large gatherings.

World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday had declared the coronavirus outbreak a 'pandemic' and expressed deep concerns.

The coronavirus disease was first detected in Wuhan in China's Hubei province, in late December, and has since spread worldwide.

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News Network
February 18,2020

Feb 18: Spinner Poonam Yadav claimed three wickets as India geared up for the ICC women's T20 World Cup with a thrilling two-run win over the West Indies in a low-scoring warm-up match in Brisbane on Tuesday. Electing to bat, India posted a lowly 107/8 in their stipulated 20 overs before returning to restrict the West Indies to 105/7. Chasing 108 to win, West Indies were comfortably placed at 57 for one in 13 overs when Deepti Sharma struck, cleaning up opener Lee-Ann Kirby (42) to trigger a collapse. Soon skipper Stafanie Taylor (16), Chedean Nation (0) and Deandra Dottin (1) were back in the hut as West Indies slipped to 67 for five in the 17th over.

Hayley Matthews (25) and Chinelle Henry (17) blasted three fours and a six in the 19th over to leave them with 11 to get off the last six balls.

Henry blasted Poonam for a four but the Indian dismissed Matthews in the fourth ball.

West Indies needed three runs off the last ball but Henry was caught by Veda Krishnamurthy.

Earlier, India's top-three failed to fire as they were reduced to 17 for three in 3.1 overs.

Opener Smriti Mandhana (4) lasted just six balls, while Jemimah Rodrigues (0) failed to open her account.

Young Shafali Verma blasted a couple of fours before being caught by Britney Cooper off Shamilia Connell (2/20).

Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (11), too, didn't stay long, while Krishnamurthy was cleaned up by Afy Fletcher (1/26), as India slumped to 52 for five in 11.2 overs.

Deepti Sharma made a 32-ball 21 before becoming a victim of Anisa Mohammed (2/16), while Pooja Vastrakar (13) was removed by Aaliyah Alleyne (1/9).

Stafanie taylor then got rid of Taniya Bhatia for 10. Shikha Pandey finally smashed a 16-ball 24 to give some respectability to the total.

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News Network
July 1,2020

New Delhi, Jul 1: After being named as India's 'Most Valuable Player' in Test cricket in the 21st century, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja on Wednesday said that he will always aim to give his best for the country.

His remark came as Jadeja achieved an MVP rating of 97.3 and as a result, he was also rated as the second most valuable player Test player worldwide, only second to Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan.

"Thank you Wisden India for naming me the 'Most Valuable Player'. I would like to thank all my teammates, coaches, fans, and well-wishers for your support as I aim to give my best for our country. Jai Hind," Jadeja tweeted.

Based on CricViz's market-leading analytics, each player in world cricket was awarded an 'MVP rating' by Wisden using a statistical model to rank their 'match impact' compared to their peers.

Jadeja has played in 49 Tests from 2012, managing to score 1,869 runs and has also picked up 213 wickets.

"It might come as a surprise to see Ravindra Jadeja, India's spin-bowling all-rounder, feature as India's number one. After all, he's not even always an automatic pick in their Test team. However, when he does play he is picked as a frontline bowler and has batted as high as No.6 - contributing to a very high match involvement," the official website of Wisden quoted CricViz's Freddie Wilde as saying.

"But Jadeja's position is based on more than simply volume: it's what he does when he's involved that really counts. The 31-year-old's bowling average of 24.62 is better than Shane Warne's and his batting average of 35.26 is better than Shane Watson's. His batting and bowling average differential of 10.62 runs is the second-best of any player this century to have scored more than 1,000 runs and taken 150 wickets. He is an all-rounder of the very highest quality," he added.

With the bat in hand, Jadeja has managed to score one century and 14 fifties in the longest format of the game.

He was last seen in action during India's two-Test series against New Zealand earlier this year.

He would have been in action for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL had the tournament commenced from March 29.

However, the IPL has been postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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