Prospects and strategies for sports marketing in India: an overview

Abstract

Sport like cricket is a religion in India and others like tennis, football and hockey are also fast catching up. The Indian Marketing Scenario (IMS) is one of the biggest consumer markets which is precisely the reason why India has attracted several MNCs. These large MNCs have realised that to succeed in the Indian market-place they need to hire Indian representative who are much more aware of the Indian economic, political, legal and social realities. The two major reasons for these changes in the IMS are changes in globalisation and technology. Essential skills required for a Sports Marketing Director are the skills of organisational, written/oral communication, computer, creative thinking, resistance to stress, and highly motivated leadership. This paper also discusses about some of the specific duties of sports marketing executives working in any of the above areas such as negotiating, preparing contracts for athletes, planning and coordinating sports events, etc. The Commonwealth Games (CWG) are only a few months away, but clients of sports marketing agencies do not appear to be queuing to get a slice of the advertising pie. There are multiple opportunities in terms of sponsorship sales, sponsorship activation, ticketing, corporate hospitality, ceremonies, athlete management, advertising and communications, and new media. The CWG have been surrounded by many controversies, including political interference and being over-budget. This has kept companies sitting on the fence. Though CWG faces lots of hurdles with a great zeal at heart Indians believe that India will host a colourful CWG 2010 at New Delhi!!!!