Can Indian Super League Change The Game Of Sports Marketing In The Country?

A lot has been said and written about how cricket dominates in India and how other sports get a step-motherly treatment, both from marketers and the audience. But of late, things seem to be changing, especially in terms of an effort to popularise other sports in the country.

The Indian Super League (ISL) is one such step. ISL has been announced to create some buzz around the game of football. About Rs 400 crore is set to be pumped in to popularise the game in the country. Cricketers and film personalities like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Salman Khan, Ranbir Kapoor and John Abraham co-own franchises in the ISL. This will surely add glitz to the league. The question is can big money and celebrities change the current scenario of sports in India? Can they rewrite the rules of sports marketing in the country?

The game has eyeballs

Unlike the popular belief, football has been attracting some significant eyeballs in the recent years. In 2012, it had a huge viewership record of 155 million, not much behind the cricket viewership that year, which was 176 million (source: Tam Sports). This is close to double the viewership of football in the year 2010, at 83 million.

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) also acknowledged the popularity of the English Premier League and stated on record, “More people in India watch the EPL than in England.” Well, that is some good news! Not just that, but an increase in football merchandising in the recent years is another sign of the upward trend in the game’s popularity in India.

The challenge so far

So if football has been getting such popularity in the country, why has it not caught the imagination of marketers in the country? The answer to this question is twofold. First, marketers in India have a set amount for sports spending and they usually love to spend the major share of it on cricket as it is quite a safe bet. They are not yet able to gather courage to bet big bucks on football. Secondly, the marketers might not be ready to spend much on football yet. While football viewership and following are growing in India, it is international soccer that is catching the fancy of the Indian audience. But the local leagues and their players are yet to become popular among the Indian viewers.

The fact is that local football leagues don't have much traction in the country. Without the local football property and local football heroes, putting too much money on the game from a marketer’s perspective doesn’t seem to be a very good idea. In fact, it is estimated that less than 40% of Indians watch domestic football championships. That is certainly not encouraging for the game in India.

Can ISL be the game changer?
ISL is created with the objective to make local football popular in India and create local heroes. The league has attracted investments and is pumping those big bucks in the game to create big buzz around it and catch the fancy of the Indian viewers, as well as the marketers.

The much-talked-about Rs 400 crore will be invested in marketing the game, creating the right infrastructure for it, building the broadcast strength and, of course, for acquiring international and domestic football players. The strategy that the ISL is focusing on is to make football mainstream and make it a game of mass attraction and the mass advertisers will automatically follow.

Looking at what the IPL did to cricket (not just in India but at international level, too), ISL holds great hope for football in India if it succeeds to create similar magic (or even nearly half) like the IPL.

However, what the ISL’s engineers need to remember is that this cannot be a one-off game. The league will require a long-term commitment in terms of building the brand in the country, popularising the game and creating local heroes. If that's provided, this league is certainly set to change not just the game of football in the country but also the rules of sports marketing.