|
MUMBAI: Leading Indian event management company Wizcraft has
made its foray into the Indian sports market with the launch
of Sports One.
Sports
One will develop Indian talent on an international platform
besides working on creating properties in order to raise the
quality of sports in India.
Promoted
by Wizcraft co-founders Andre Timmins, Viraf Sarkari and Sabbas
Joseph along with Ashok Rajgopal, the venture will compete
with agencies like IMG Reliance, Nimbus Sport and Twenty First
Century Media among others.
Ashok
Rajgopal, a former partner with Ernst & Young's media
and sports consulting practice, has been appointed as CEO
of the new venture to spearhead the company's efforts to break
ground in the Indian sports market.
The
company seeks to establish a holistic and 360 degree approach
to sports marketing and the management of sports properties.
Established
in 1988, sports was a natural extension for Wizcraft that
has worked on sporting extravaganzas like Indian Premier League
and 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
As
part of its expansion plans outside India, the company had
recently entered Singapore market to serve its clientele in
the Asia-Pacific region. It had also set foot in Sri Lanka
through a joint venture with Sri Lankan events company Event
Concepts, a subsidiary company of Green Lanka Group.
The
company with 300-strong headcount has a turnover of Rs 3 billion.
Wizcraft's
most recent association with sports was through World Series
Hockey wherein it picked the franchise rights for the Delhi
team for a period of 10 years. The company sees potential
in India's national sport and plans to build its team into
a strong brand.
Wizcraft
Entertainment International Director Andre Timmins said, "Having
worked on some of the most sought after leagues and federations
in Indian sport like the Commonwealth Games, the Indian Premier
League, and World Series Hockey etc we are excited about further
lending our support to the Indian sports industry at large.
We have long wanted to venture into sports in a big way and
Sports One is an ideal step in that direction that will specialise
in the field of overall sporting excellence in India."
Sports
One CEO Ashok Rajgopal said, "Today, the size of the
sports marketing industry in India which is at a nascent stage
is estimated to be over $1.6 billion and is expected to grow
exponentially."
Besides
Hockey, the newly established venture is also betting big
on the 'Beautiful Game'. It has created a venture within Sports
One called Football One to cater to the sport which is second
to cricket in popularity.
"We
are in the process of entering into strategic alliances across
various sports, including our soon-to-be-announced international
partnerships in football through our venture, Football One,"
added Rajgopal.
While
there is no doubt that the Indian market with its vast youth
population holds great promise, the market is still dominated
by Cricket. However, other sports like Football, Hockey, Badminton
and Boxing too have dedicated fan following in certain pockets.
The
fact remains that monetising sports properties is a big challenge
for all sports marketing agencies. A case in point is IMG
Reliance’s Rs 7.5 billion investment on Indian football
which is yet to yield any results. The company had bought
commercial rights from All India Football Federation in 2010
for 15 years.
According
to a Price Waterhouse Coopers, the business of sports will
generate annual revenue of $1.89 billion by 2015 posting an
average annual growth of five per cent. The size of Indian
sports business would account for only 1.3 per cent of the
worldwide revenues of $145.3 billion.
|
