MUMBAI: indiantelevision.com and SportzPR - the communications consultancy focusing exclusively on the business of sports - present yet another first from a growing list.
SportzBiz 2003, a half-day forum to discuss the status of the various issues facing the business of sport in India, and lay out a path for future development, will be held at ITC Grand Maratha, in Mumbai on Friday, 24 January. The forum is being conducted under the theme - Sports Marketing: The New Frontier.
Globally, the business of sports is estimated at about $25 billion. In India, sports have been scaling new heights with cricket being the front-runner. While cricket rakes in billions of marketing rupees, other sports such as football, tennis, golf, badminton, motor racing, hockey, chess, squash, have a lot of catching up to do.
Why are marketers investing huge amount of money in sports? ...Are these investments justified in terms of returns? …How does one quantify returns? …What are the unique ways devised by various marketers to stand out of the clutter? …What are the various issues facing sports marketing in India? …These and many more questions have never been answered or debated in India.
With the cricket World Cup just around the corner, indiantelevision.com and SportzPR and thought this may be the right time to pause and reflect about the evolving sports marketing scenario in the country. Hence SportzBiz 2003, India's first sports marketing forum was conceived.
SportzBiz 2003, the first ever sports marketing forum in India, will see over 20 thought leaders representing diverse audiences closely involved with the business of sports in India to present, discuss and debate various issues facing the development and marketing of sports in India. These include sports marketers, broadcasters, advertisers, sports administrators, sports management companies, and sports celebrities.
The confirmed speakers at the Forum include.
Harish Thawani, Chairman, Nimbus Communications
Kunal Dasputa, CEO, Sony Entertainment Television
Manu Sawhney, Managing Director, ESPN STAR Sports India KPS Gill, President, Indian Hockey Federation
Naseer Hussain, Chief Steward, Formula One Racing
Harsha Bhogle, Presenter, ESPN STAR Sports
Kamal Morarka, Vice President, Board of Control for Cricket in India
Dr. S. Y. Quraishi, Director General, Doordarshan
Chris McDonald, CEO, Ten Sports
Ayaz Memon, Sports Editor, The Times of India
R L Ravichandran, Executive Vice President Marketing, Bajaj Auto Anil Khanna, General Secretary, All India Tennis Association Pradeep Gidwani, Managing Director, Fosters India
Michael Ferreira, Former World Billiards Champion
Hormzd Sorabjee, Editor, Autocar
Anil Singh, Managing Director, Procam
Ashish Bhasin, President, Initiative Media
M.Suku, President, BroadMind, MindShare
Shekhar Dutt, Director, Sports Authority of India
Karun Chandihok, Formula Three Driver
Raj Nayak, Air-Time Media Consultant and former Executive V-P Ad Sales, Star India.
The half-day long seminar with its unique format is expected to be attended by over 300 delegates interested or involved in the business of sports.
The seminar has been divided into four sessions:
Business of Sports...Is sports giving you the right bang for your marketing buck?
Why do you invest in sports?... What are the impediments? Managements, infrastructure, culture.
Is Sports only a big boys play or is there room for small guys too?
Celebrity Endorsements... Are they Justified?. or is it Too Much. too soon.
Comparative spending on sports vis-?-vis other events and their comparative returns
What are the various opportunities in the business of sports? Already tapped/untapped.
Will the investment and spends on other Sports increase in the coming years?
What are the International trends?. Where does India stand?
Cricket and beyond Cricket
Why is cricket a national passion?
Why is there too much Cricket and too little of other sports?
Is the huge amount of money invested in Cricket worth it?
Are the returns justified?
The TRUTH behind the ICC Ambush Marketing Controversy! Are the solutions only stop gap measure?
Lack of Sponsorship for other Sports. What are the reasons?
What can other sports learn from cricket? Building up alternate Sports...The Way Ahead
The role of the media, sports associations etc.
The ways and means to promote new sports.
Sports and TV...Harnessing the power of television
Can sport ever truly take control of its broadcast destiny?
Are there enough telecast outlets? How to glamourise other sports for television: . Kabaddi, khusti?
Get real: Setting realistic expectations of income from television rights.
Was the World Cup cricket acquisition worth it.
Negotiating a TV deal: Presenting to broadcasters, understanding rights value and the role of an agent
Presenting to sponsors: What are they looking for?
Changing minds and moving stock - does sponsorship really work? Branding events to attract sponsors.
Cricket: Will the Channels make money? And how?
Promoting and Telecasting Alternate Sports. Tennis, Hockey and Football. What sells in the world has no takers in India? Why?
The Legal issues involved in Sports Broadcasting.
The Future: Can we realize the full potential of sports marketing in India?
Innovation: The key...in media. in creative..
Blessing or curse - hosting a major sporting events in India.
How to evaluate the opportunities, advantages, legacy benefits, revenue opportunities and risks before deciding to launch an event.
Surrogate advertising.. How will they use sports?
Sports Merchandising: Largely Untapped as Yet!
Legalized Betting: Will it be a way of life in future?
Internet Opportunities: Accessing the power of sports communities Going mobile - revenue potential from the mobiles, pagers, cable and internet
Is sport wasting the opportunities technology offers?
Opportunities in different sports /Innovative sports - Indoor and outdoor.
How will they develop?
After the Indian Telly Awards, the scriptwriter's forum Qalam, the TV airtime planners, buyers and sellers forum - Ad-Wise, the Sahyadri Navratna Awards, this is yet another pathbreaking initiative from television services company Indian Television Dot Com Pvt Ltd.
SportzPR is India's first specialised communications consultancy focusing exclusively on the Business of Sports. SportzPR helps clients get more value from their investments in sports, celebrities and events, and is backed by CMCG India, one of India's leading communications consultancies that has been working closely with India's biggest sports broadcaster, ESPN STAR Sports, for over five years now.
