The Future of Football in India? A New Report is out…

With the announcement earlier this month of a new initiative to launch American Football in India, questions are being asked about the future of Soccer in India. A new report out this week, DEVELOPING FOOTBALL IN INDIA, looks at the opportunities for such a scheme.



Arunava Chaudhuri (Journalist & Consultant) and Robin Russell (UEFA Football Development Consultant) have undertaken the task to take a deeper look into the market. Their report includes a study of macro factors affecting football in India, detailed studies of grassroots and top level football, original research with fans, coaches and administrators, together with an analysis of the major opportunities. They cover the social, economic and media aspects of Indian Football and show how this is changing rapidly.



As an example they cite that the broadcast rights for the FIFA World Cup have risen by over 1,000 % in 8 years: from $3 million in 2002 to $43 million in 2010.They also report a 60% increase in numbers watching football on TV since 2005 and almost 100 million TV viewers for Football in 2010. Football also attracts the second-highest sports sponsorship in India outranking wrestling and tennis - two sports where India boasts champion competitors





The Indian economy is growing at 8% per year. Remarkably not only are there over 835 million mobile phone subscribers, but 24 million took out subscriptions in one month ( April to May ) this year.



Chaudhuri and Russell have prepared 100 pages (23000 words) with more than 100 references and over 20 Case studies of good practice. Amongst the list of Case Studies is the impressive work by FC Pune in developing links with the community. This club illustrates what is possible in the Indian Football Market - stable organisation, professional staff, sponsors, attractive stadium with floodlights, average crowds of 5,000; schools contact programme, soccer camps and a residential youth academy.

Another Case Study highlights the work provided by the Mumbai Schools Sports Associations providing competitions for over 15,000 boys and girls.



The evidence therefore is that the increasingly affluent, English speaking, wired Indian middle class of over 125 million is interested in soccer. A Nielsen survey in 2010 found that 47% of India's 1.2 billion population would describe themselves as football fans.





The report DEVELOPING FOOTBALL IN INDIA therefore answers these three questions for potential investors:



Why invest in football development in India?

What are the best perceived opportunities for investment?

What are the most effective methods to quickly grow the Indian Football Market?





But what of cricket in India?

Sambit Bal, the editor of CricInfo, the authoritative online cricket Indian newsroom said recently. "My own 19-year-old son would rather watch the EPL (English Premier League) than the IPL. For him (Barcelona player Lionel Messi) is a far bigger sporting hero than (Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar). All his friends are the same. Many of these kids today don't have the time or patience for Test cricket or even one-day matches, so for them Twenty20 is fine and football is even better because it's only 90 minutes." "If anything has changed in recent years I would say there are a lot more football fans, especially among the urban upper-middle classes, who will follow a team like Barcelona far more passionately than they would Test cricket," says Bal.



The Times of India confirmed that soccer now attracts three times as many viewers as cricket in India's largest cities.





DEVELOPING FOOTBALL IN INDIA identifies 25 major strengths of the Indian Football Market and outlines the considerable opportunities especially in grassroots football including adult 5-a-side, soccer camps, schools, e-learning, youth & amateur clubs. There are for example over 20,000 schools playing football. A Directory of Soccer Camps and a profile of all Professional clubs are also included in the report along with Regional Hotspots with the greatest potential





Nigel Fletcher, Managing Director of Sports Development Marketing Ltd. [formerly with FIFA], has had considerable experience in football development projects throughout the world. On reviewing the report this week he commented:

"This Report is unique and very comprehensive. It is very good on the social, economic, media aspects of Indian Football, how this is changing rapidly and the opportunities that exist there."

The pace of development is accelerating. On August 5th Sports Business reported the establishment of an 'American Football' league - the Elite Football League - in India to begin in 2012. The backers include well-known NFL former coach Mike Ditka and Green Bay Packers linebacker Brandon Chillar.The Elite Football League already has franchises, schedules and educational initiatives in place and will hire over 1,000 staff before the autumn of 2012.



Meanwhile, the Western Indian Football Association, the Maharashtra state FA embarked in July on an ambitious program of producing 5000 AIFF certified coaches in the next three years. And Blackburn Rovers reported last month that it will spend two years creating an Academy and Development Centres near Pune 60 miles from Mumbai.



The evidence clearly indicates that these types of initiatives will flourish. The Report, launched earlier this week, indicates a positive future for football development in India, and outlines the most effective way to grow that Market...

For further details including Contents, Tables and Case Studies, e-mail Robin Russell at RRussell(at)sportspath.com