The Playknox spoke with Ashish Shah, ex-CEO Odisha FC and founder of sports consulting firm Dynamic Sports about his tenure at the club, challenges being faced by the Indian sporting realm amidst Covid-19 among other things.
How difficult do you reckon the recovery will be for sports businesses in India from Covid-19?
Next 6 to 9 months will be very difficult for everyone concerned in the sports business in India, as we are all in survival mode. However, I believe that elite sports such as: IPL, ISL and other professional leagues will innovate and bounce back. We already have models from European sports clubs as learnings. More investments will be made towards safety and digital technologies to make the experience seamless for players, organizers and fans.
The more worrying part for me is sports at the grassroots level. When will parents feel comfortable to let their children start playing outdoors or when will general population be able to carry out their sporting activities? Perhaps it will start once the schools and universities restart and define the safety protocols.
This is not only a serious health issue, when a large portion of the country’s population is physically inactive, it’s also a serious economic issue since businesses providing: infrastructure, goods, consulting and services, coaching academies, sports medicine, sports tourism to name a few, depend on the grassroots level activities. Online modules and Exercise-At-Home can work, but they cannot be long term solutions, especially for our country’s large young population. The government needs to step in for grassroots sports, just like they have for elite sports.
What are the ways that the sporting realm (clubs, organisations, other stakeholders) can recover from Covid-19?
As I indicated above, for sports stakeholders, especially for elite sportspersons and events, Covid crisis provides an opportunity to remodel themselves. Some of the critical areas are:
Set up Safety infrastructure and protocols
Getting sportspersons back to peak performance levels : Physical and Mental aspects, as sportspersons return from isolation and home based training routines.
Fan engagement: For the near future, since there will not be fans at the stadium, innovative digital strategies will be deployed to reach out and engage a larger audience. Creation of innovative content, diversification into eSports etc.
Brands : Sponsors are also looking for innovative digital activations and higher RoI’s. Clubs and broadcasters that are able to do those, will benefit commercially.
Local Players and Support Staff : with travel restrictions in place, it is imperative that a strong local team is put in place. Will be a great opportunity for some clubs to promote/hire Indians as Head coaches and key Support functions.
Innovative Operational models: e.g. Conduct leagues in couple of cities instead of all franchise cities, there by cutting down on travel logistics and overall organizational expenses.
What were the initial challenges you had to face with regards to Delhi Dynamos renaming itself to Odisha FC and moving to Odisha? In the end, what was the result and the journey like for you with Odisha FC ?
There were many challenges as we had less than 3 months for the transition. Once the decision was made, it basically meant creating a new club in a new location. Starting with the name of the club, to its logo, colours, kits to figuring out the operational infrastructure such as stadium, practice facilities, apartments, schools and travel for players and their families. At the same time, we had to start creating a fan base, getting sponsors and other revenue streams. You can imagine the magnitude of the challenge, as we were doing all this while understanding the new market in Odisha. To add to all of this, we found out at a later stage that the stadium would not be ready till December which meant we had to play 3 of our home games in Pune.
While this meant lot of heartburn and frustrations, the end result was a resounding success. Two major factors helped us: 1) Our club’s staff, none of whom were from Odisha originally, took up this challenge and worked tirelessly through this period and 2) Government Support: Odisha government, in a true spirit of partnership, helped us quickly get settled by providing infrastructure and PR support. Once the team started playing and performing (Odisha FC lost only 1 game at Kalinga stadium the entire season), more local fans and corporates started to follow Odisha FC. The club now has a great platform of Infrastructure, Government Support, Fans and Sponsors to build from.
Do you think popularity and the business model of ISL will grow in future? Are more brands/sponsors investing in the game?
Yes definitely. At a macro level, there is enough space in the Indian economy for sports other than Cricket to also thrive. Once we are over the current Covid crisis, the economy will rebound, there will be renewed interest from local and global investors in Indian football. We already have large Indian corporates invested in the ISL and Clubs as owners and sponsors, and also global brands such as Aspire Academy, CFG (Manchester City), and Atletico Madrid. Several Clubs have multi-year deals with sponsors and these will continue to grow. Interestingly, we will also see lot more local sponsors supporting their respective regional teams, where the individual ticket size may be low but a Club may be able to get many such local sponsors and do innovative activations with them.
At the micro level, now there is more clarity in Indian football’s structure in general and hence ISL’s roadmap. With ISL officially the top league of the country, and a clear roadmap towards adding more teams and eventual multi-tier relegation/promotion structure, Indian football ecosystem will grow. That will mean more interest from fans, media, sponsors, government and investors.
As far as the business model is concerned, now that the Clubs have 6 seasons’ experience, we will see a divergence in each Club’s business strategy. Sustainability is the key word, and clubs that can succeed in sustaining for the next 5 years will reap the benefits over the long term. Lot of effort has already been made in expense optimization, and clubs will continue doing so, while steadily increasing revenue streams.
What is your off the field routine like? What are the books you are currently reading or which was the last book you read?
I love to read, travel and play sports. So these days there is a lot of reading and exercising, and of course, catching up on Netflix, Amazon and Hotstar series.
Since I am unable to access my book library, I have re-read some of the books I have at home. The ones I read most recently are :
Winning by Jack Welch
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
And the Mountains Echoed By Khaled Hosseni
Sapiens by Yuval Harari
