MUMBAI: Solitario Diamonds has officially partnered with Gujarat Giants in the Women’s Premier League (WPL), becoming the first lab-grown diamond brand to align with the world’s biggest women’s cricket tournament. As the third most-watched cricket event globally, following the IPL and ICC T20 World Cup, the WPL presents an unmatched opportunity for Solitario to engage with millions across India.
With Gujarat—the diamond capital of India—at the heart of this collaboration, the synergy between Solitario and the WPL is seamless. The partnership goes beyond sport, celebrating the resilience, brilliance, and achievements of women in all fields.
Solitario Diamonds CEO & co-founder Ricky Vasandani expressed his enthusiasm for the association, stating, “We are incredibly proud to be associated with the Women’s Premier League, a tournament that is not just revolutionising women’s cricket but also inspiring millions across the country. As a brand dedicated to brilliance and resilience, we see this partnership as a tribute to women who shine in every field. Just like our diamonds, these athletes embody strength, perseverance, and excellence.”
To mark this alliance, Solitario Diamonds will host the entire WPL team in Bengaluru on 25 February. During a special ceremony, Vasandani will present each team member with a stunning tennis bracelet—a symbol of strength and elegance, much like the athletes themselves.
Solitario Diamonds is rolling out a power-packed marketing campaign that ensures maximum visibility throughout India. The brand is making bold moves with:
● Digital promotions and social media blitz – High-impact campaigns across live-streaming platforms and social media to keep the buzz alive throughout the tournament.
● Out-of-home (OOH) advertising – Strategic placements in key cities, including Mumbai, Bengaluru, Lucknow, and Baroda.
● Bus branding – Extensive branding on public transport in cricket-loving regions.
● Stadium branding & in-game digital activations – Front-and-centre presence at WPL venues, ensuring strong brand recall.
With stadium branding, live-streaming integrations, and high-impact activations, Solitario Diamonds is ensuring that its presence is as dazzling as its creations. As the WPL takes centre stage, the brand is set to knock it out of the park, positioning itself as a game-changer in the world of luxury diamonds.
This strategic collaboration underscores Solitario’s dedication to empowering women, drawing a compelling parallel between the brilliance of diamonds and the rising success of Indian women in sports and beyond. Cricket, revered as a religion in India, offers the perfect stage for Solitario to inspire and connect with audiences on an unparalleled scale.
With this partnership, Solitario Diamonds is championing a movement that celebrates women’s achievements, resilience, and brilliance, both on and off the field.
MUMBAI: The sports sponsorship market is booming. Never before has more money been pumped into marketing sporting events, athletes and sports teams- globally as well as in India. According to a recent Nielsen study, sports sponsorships were up by 107 per cent in 2021, even as sponsorships drove an average of 10 per cent lift in purchase intent among the fan base. Today, aided by accelerated digitalisation, sports sponsorship offers brands entirely new opportunities than a few years ago, that’s especially attractive. And when it comes to sporting properties in India, it goes without saying that the Indian Premier League (IPL) is indisputably the mother of them all!
For the second consecutive year DHL Express India, one of the leading players in logistics, parcel delivery, e-commerce shipping and international supply chain management is the principal sponsor and official logistics partner of Mumbai Indians (MI). The deliverables entailed in the partnership are indicative of the brand’s 360-degree approach. While the brand logo can be prominently seen on the back of the players’ jerseys, DHL branding is visible in the player dugout banners, stadium concourse, outdoor, as well as digital and print ads of the MI team and all its official stationery. And that includes the right to present the coin toss in one home match!
As DHL Express (DHLE) India, enters its second year of partnership with Mumbai Indians, IndianTelevision.com had an exclusive interaction with DHLE India VP of sales and marketing Sandeep Juneja to try and understand the background and rationale behind the continued association. Having joined DHLE in 2004, Juneja worked his way up in the organisation, taking on the mantle of VP- sales & marketing in October 2013. He has played a key role in driving the sales and marketing strategies, especially in the new normal.
Juneja also shares insights into the value and ROI that DHLE gained basis the partnership as well as the campaigns it has planned to further leverage the collaboration. Despite its bad run at the IPL this year the MI team remains one of the crowd favourites. The brand recently released its latest ad film featuring the MI players titled ‘DHL #TheTeamBehindTheTeam for Mumbai Indians – 2022.’
Edited excerpts:
On the value/ROI that DHLE gained basis its partnership with Mumbai Indians in 2021
2021 was a bit different for the Indian Premier League. While it started with an in-stadia audience, the second wave of Covid-19 put a halt to the game, moving it to the later part of the year. However, for DHL Express India, it still ended up being a fruitful association with the team. As per Broadcast Audience Research Council (Barc) India data, while the tournament’s reach (live matches on TV) in India was 405 million, matches featuring Mumbai Indians were watched by 306.5 million households. In fact, the buzz on social media around the team also saw an 18 per cent growth over 2020. All this data only strengthens our belief in Mumbai Indians and this partnership. In fact, the presence of DHL’s logo on the back of the jersey positions us as the team behind the team and we have enjoyed great brand visibility with this association.
On the background and rationale behind the long-term partnership with IPL & Mumbai Indians
DHL, globally, over the years, has supported some of the world’s largest and most popular sports formats – from football to rugby, Formula One and even e-sports. Collaborating with prominent events helps brands, such as ours, to generate leads, and build customer loyalty and credibility. Cricket is a game that is well-loved and followed with ardent devotion in India, and many nations across the world. If you talk about the Indian Premier League, it is a festival in this country. The league has been able to successfully bring together sports and entertainment, making it an event for everyone, regardless of age or gender. IPL brings countries together and gets them all on one single platform.
Even within the IPL, it was essential for us to partner with a team that shares similar values. For DHL Express, the partnership with Mumbai Indians demonstrates our support for sports given the shared spirit of speed, passion, teamwork, and a can-do attitude. Mumbai Indians has proved its mettle in the game. If one has to go with pure data, they tick all the boxes: five-time champion, most popular team in IPL, highest social media buzz generator during the game, and many more. Mumbai Indians demonstrates “Excellence: Simply Delivered,” which is in sync with our mission. Therefore, we are glad to be the principal sponsor and official logistics partner for Mumbai Indians for the second consecutive year.
Sports sponsorships, like the one with Mumbai Indians, gives us an opportunity to widen our canvas and expand our target audience. It helps us build brand awareness and equity with not only a more varied target group but also reconnect with our customers and stakeholders through multiple touchpoints, a necessity in a post-pandemic world. Through this partnership, we hope to better connect with our customers and reach out to a wider customer base.
On how does the brand aim to strengthen its bond with its TG through this association
The viewership data for IPL suggests that the tournament cuts across sections, gender, geography and age groups. It is a great platform to reach out to people, primarily in the age group of 25-35, especially from tier I and II cities. This partnership with Mumbai Indians has helped DHL expand its target group and become a household brand. This season, we are looking forward to amplifying our MI partnership through a carefully curated and immersive 360-degree campaign with a focus on digital.
With our various digital activations, we created multiple touchpoints, thus giving us an opportunity to have instant and engaging conversations with our audiences across gender, geography, and age groups. We have introduced an all-new brand film featuring the crowd favourite Mumbai Indians players, to establish ourselves as the team behind the five-time league champions, as well as our customers. In fact, our digital video on #TheTeamBehindTheTeam trended number two in the first hour of it being activated on Twitter. Also, via our several social media fan contests and campaigns like Six for a Cause, DHL Match Ke Stars, the interaction with both the MI players and fans were much more authentic. We were able to tap into a new set of customers and build a greater connection with our existing customers via this crowd favorite game.
On the strategy and activations planned to further leverage this collaboration
With the traditional and digital worlds merging, it is vital for brands to leverage new technology and utilise digital platforms to develop engagement like never before. After a fruitful partnership last year, this season, we aim to amplify the association via a 360-degree marketing approach. Through digital, social, radio, print, and outdoor mediums, we will take our activations to the next level. We have leveraged all these mediums to ensure our visibility on and off the field.
Given that people are stepping out of their homes again, we have focused on outdoor advertising as well. This will include personalised branding on over 50 DHL vans, outdoor ads & radio spots. We are working on creating interactive content to engage with our target audience on social media.
We will also engage with Mumbai Indians fans as well as our current and potential customers via fan contests on social media like ‘DHL Match Ke Stars’ and through our alpha campaign – ‘Six for a Cause.’ The campaign will showcase Mumbai Indians players holding interactive sessions with the blind cricket team. We will also donate Rs 20,000 for every six that a MI player hits during their game. The proceeds of this will go to Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled which supports blind cricketers.
The focus for any brand that wants to build and retain its market position should be put on continuous user engagement, via digital touchpoints such as search engine marketing, snackable digital content, online knowledge sharing and round-the-clock availability of sales executives. We employ a 360-degree marketing mix to build stronger customer relationships. Be it television, radio, online or print, we try to ensure our brand visibility across media channels. We believe in leveraging all these channels throughout the year.
Mumbai: The year 2021 saw a resounding comeback for sports sponsorships and media deals, as compared to 2020 when the pandemic took over. The size of the Indian sports industry spending is estimated to have surpassed Rs 9,500 crore last year, according to the latest sports sponsorship report released by GroupM India’s entertainment, e-sports and sports division GroupM ESP.
With Rs 6,018 crore, sports advertisement expenditure (adex) surpassed 2019 levels in both TV and digital. Cricket yet again, remains the most popular sport, accounting for 94 per cent of the sports adex. The media spending on cricket in 2021 was higher (Rs 5,657 crore) than the overall media spends of 2019 (Rs 5,232 crore).
The ninth edition of Sporting Nation in The Making – GroupM ESP’s sports report takes into consideration the sponsorship spends, player endorsements and media spends on sports properties. The spending on sports celebrity endorsement grew by 11 per cent year-on-year in 2021, says the report. A total of 444 brand endorsement deals have happened in 2021, with cricketers accounting for 318 endorsement deals and 87 per cent of total brand endorsement value. The Olympic Year of 2021 increased emerging sports athletes’ endorsements by 79 per cent, accounting for 13 per cent of the overall brand endorsement value, as per the report.
2021 got our sporting nation back to a billion-dollar scale with a 62 per cent growth over 2020, the report said. India’s performance at the Tokyo Olympics has been a morale booster for budding sports talent in the country and 2022 will bring new opportunities in multi-sport events.
The household penetration of TV sets in different markets over the country saw a major role in the growth of sports properties. With this, TV continues to be the largest medium since 2021 saw overall ad spends of Rs 5,051 crore, which was a growth of 59 per cent over 2020 and we saw digital spends touching Rs 965 crore.
“2021 was a year of a major comeback for the sports industry. Not only in sports but we saw growth in sponsorships, endorsements, and media expenses in 2021,” remarked GroupM South Asia CEO Prasanth Kumar. “This year will also be a good re-start point for brands to invest in sports properties since sports will see a rise and will in-turn deliver ROI to brands.”
“We even saw e-sports gaining significant traction and there was a major rise in the number of gamers in the country. Properties like PKL, ISL, etc. are also seeing a major rise in followers which goes to show that India is heavily invested in overall sports from an interest and inquisitiveness standpoint. As for cricket, we are seeing a growing interest by foreign private equity giants investing in Indian cricket which is proving that cricket will continue seeing a huge surge in India and with 2021 getting cricket back on track, we are seeing 2022 racing ahead, aiming to cross Rs 10,000 crore mark,” Kumar further said.
Acceptance of visual media for live sports broadcast by fans led to a great demand of platforms like SonyLiv and Disney+ Hotstar who are now streaming a variety of sports for their audiences, says GroupM. The study finds the OTT space becoming more competitive in the years to come since India is adopting OTT for live streaming sporting action.
“India as a sporting nation has finally arrived, overcoming all barriers brought in by the pandemic,” stated GroupM South Asia head – sports, entertainment and e-sports Vinit Karnik. “Cricket being the hero of India, contributed 88 per cent of the sports spends. IPL and T20 WC boosted the sports adex growth. We also saw emerging sports contributing 12 per cent on the overall sports spends. The media spends in 2021 were the biggest contributors, who accounted for almost two-thirds of all sports industry spending.”
“While sports celebrity endorsement was on the rise in 2021, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Neeraj Chopra and PV Sindhu are the top athletes in the sports celebrity brand endorsement space. 2022 will be an exciting year with the Asian Games, Fifa World Cup, Premier Badminton League, and many more properties coming up, and the fans are in for a treat. The sports arena is an exciting drive ahead from the fanbase lens and the business lens too and we have a host of opportunities in the Indian sports industry,” he added.
With an action-packed 2021, media spends in sports saw some heavy scoring in India as brands and consumers were brought closer by broadcasters and technology also played a very crucial role in evolving the way people appreciate sports, according to GroupM.
MUMBAI: Numbers don’t lie, and the numbers in the fourth edition of the ‘Sporting Nation in the Making’ India sports sponsorship report speak for themselves. Compiled by ESP Properties- the sports and entertainment programming specialist arm of GroupM, and SportzPower- leading sports portal, the report states that sports sponsorship spending grew by a little over 19%. Spending via sports sponsorship accounted for 11.5% of the Indian AdEx (AdEx numbers from GroupM This Year, Next Year 2016 report) in the Indian market. While media spends contributed to the largest chunk of the pie, followed by ground sponsorship, the total size of sports advertising rose to INR 6400 crore / $941 million, a big jump up from the INR 5363.3 crore / $825 million garnered in 2015.
Apart from an in-depth analysis of on-ground, media spends, team sponsorships, franchises and mobile and social media data, the new report delves deeply into the evolution of technology and its effects on the mainstream digital landscape. Beyond mere number crunching, the report also strives to educate stakeholders on the key developments that could affect their business, offering a roadmap to manoeuvre sponsorships going forward. The major insight of this report is that both Cricket and Non-Cricket held their own trajectory, and together pushed the industry forward. 2016 also seemed like a make-or-break year for some leagues, with some repositioning themselves to garner greater viewership, while others launching with a hungry audience base. Indian Cricket was on a high in 2016, both on the field and off it.
ESP Properties business head Vinit Karnik believes 2017 is definitely going to gain momentum in terms of the previous year’s high and opined, “The report insights are the key to devising more refined viewer engagement. Gone are the days of male dominance in sports viewership. The year’s biggest chunk of spectators came from women and kids. This is ground-breaking data for brands to take that much desired leap of faith and traverse new grounds. Cricket continues to be the poster child for sponsorships, and non-Cricket sports still have a fair leap to make to match revenue. However it is interesting to focus on the mushrooming of a very defined health and fitness consciousness within the country. Young digital India is breaking barriers and creating new records especially when it comes to live feeds. Their smartphones are their all access pass to the “insider world” of sports, sportsmen and their strengths and weaknesses. Sports start-ups are trending and the success achieved by league-based events across multiple sports indicates a strong potential to consume sports other than cricket.”
“Viewership data demographics have been an eye-opener in 2016,” emphasises SportzPower co-founder Thomas Abraham, and continues, “Demonetisation disruptions aside, 2016 was a great year for the industry and this year will be even more so. Team sponsorships may have experienced certain upheavals and newer leagues will change the sporting diaspora even more so this year. However, what remains to be seen is franchise sustenance, endorsement rates and the manner in which technology and data influence these numbers. We expect 2017 to only get bigger, not just on the back of growth from the leagues that are now up and running, but also from new kids on the block that are debuting in the year – Table Tennis being a notable one.” Thus, 2016 proved to be apocalyptic for some leagues that had risen out of the woodworks since 2011-12 and they finally culminated in imminent death
Going forward, a lot is in store for sports in 2017. The first two months have already provided an indication to what promises to be an action packed year for Sportainment. Digital and offline are now two sides of the same coin. Looking forward, ESP Properties and SportzPower expect India’s sports market to grow at a faster pace vis-à-vis the last few years, aided by government policy and an increasing demand for recreational sports.
MUMBAI: For those you are into sports, be it for the love of the game or love of the business that revolves around it, the welcome news is that India has set itself to become a sporting nation that thrives not only on cricket but number of other sports as well. India with a thriving culture around sports is not a distant mirage but a near reality. The figures in the 3rd edition of Sporting Nation In The Making – III is a testament to this growth.
This comprehensive report compiled by GroupM’s entertainment and sports arm ESP Properties and SportzPower shows that sports sponsorship in India has grown from Rs 46,165 million (Rs 4,616.50 crore) in 2014 to Rs 51,854 million (Rs 5,185.40 crore) in 2015 accounting for 10.4 per cent of the total Indian advertising expenditure. That is a whooping 12.3 per cent growth.
ESP Properties business head Vinit Karnik emphasised how sports can be harnessed as a successful communication medium by brands. He said, “There is definitely a cultivated sense of understanding between corporate sponsors, sports teams and federations. A symbiotic marketing relationship has emerged within the sporting ecosystem in India. 2016 will be fantastic for not only players and federations, but also for brands and spectators, with a deeper engagement with sporting properties.”
Despite the challenges, ICC World Cup managed to garner Rs 5000 million (Rs 500 crore) in advertising revenues in 2015. On air sponsorships over all increased by 6.8 per cent YoY from Rs 25,180 million (Rs 2,518 crore) to Rs 26,900 million (Rs 2,690 crore). Out of which, 30 to 35 per cent was contributed by the emerging sports in India, while cricket took the bulk of the share.
Interestingly, only 30 percent of the growth came from On Air deals, while the rest of the 70 percent came from on ground sponsorships, team sponsorships, franchise fee and athlete’s brand endorsement deals, with on ground seeing most of the action. It grew by 30 per cent from Rs 7948 million (Rs 794.80 crore) to Rs 10,305 million (Rs 1,030.50 crore).
Though cricket bit the biggest chunk off this sponsorship pie, emerging sports leagues were the real growth drivers. Going by the figures roughly 51.38 per cent of the on ground sponsorship share was cricket’s contribution while the rest was all emerging sports.
“Sports other than cricket have successfully established themselves in terms of revenue and fandom within the Indian sporting firmament,” SportzPower co founder Thomas Abraham shared. “Sports like kabaddi andfFootball have massively increased sponsorship revenues in 2015 and we saw return editions of sports like tennis and hockey as well. The successful launch of the Pro Wrestling League bodes well for 2016, which will see the advent of more franchise based leagues. We expect 2016 to be a good year for cricket as well as other sports, generating ad spends and clocking in corporate investments at an exponential pace,” he added.
Infact, football saw an amazing 91.6 per cent sponsorship growth from the previous year valuing it at Rs 1140 million (Rs 114 crore) in 2015. The biggest success story is perhaps Pro Kabaddi League, which grew by 300 per cent YoY and clocked at Rs 480 million (Rs 48 crore) in on ground sponsorship deals without a title sponsor. As per Karnik, it was a clever strategy by the broadcaster to not lock down their title sponsor and raise the bar for the next season.
eCommerce brands took the lead as top spenders in the total ad spends on sports in 2015, followed closely by automobile brands. PayTM, CEAT Tyres and MRF Tyres together contributed Rs 1078 million (Rs 107.8 crore) per year, increasing cricket’s on ground ad spends by 14 per cent.
Endorsements played a huge role in upping the sponsorship ante in 2015 with the sector seeing 27 per cent growth. The biggest endorsement deal was undoubtedly Tata Motors’ bringing Lionel Messi onboard on a two year deal of worth Rs 600 million (Rs 60 crore) per year. 2015 also saw Virat Kohli entering the Rs 1,000 million (Rs 100 crore) endorsement club that God Of Cricket Tendulkar and MS Dhoni earlier ruled.
“Women are ruling the endorsement game when it comes to non-cricketing sports,” said Karnik. “Between Saina Nehwal, Sania Mirza and MC Mary Kom, the ladies share almost 40 per cent of the endorsement spends in the market with over 10 brands in each player’s kitty.” Abraham credited their sophisticated and enthusiastic engagement of fans over social media to be the driving factor apart from their continued good performance throughout the year.
The stress on digital, and social engagement is reiterated by both Abraham and Karnik as critical to players and teams as stats show that 70 percent of fans bring mobile phones to the stadium to share their experience, while 46 percent of mobile internet users search for sports related news and content online.
Karnik calls 2016 to be the year of the fans and points out two key trends that will drive growth in the sector. “Now that we have sowed the seeds of a sporting nation in India, 2016 will see a great synergy between broadcasters, association’s, franchise owners, players and all other stakeholders to come together to build a culture around sports and build the fanbase. Secondly longer seasons or play for they sport will give more opportunities for brands to engage with the fans,” shared Karnik, adding that Pro Kabaddi League will see two seasons this year. Abraham on the other hand names volleyball to be the next big entrant in emerging sports league scene, which will launch with three separate sub-leagues to its name — beach volleyball, men’s volleyball and women’s volleyball league.
MUMBAI: For those you are into sports, be it for the love of the game or love of the business that revolves around it, the welcome news is that India has set itself to become a sporting nation that thrives not only on cricket but number of other sports as well. India with a thriving culture around sports is not a distant mirage but a near reality. The figures in the 3rd edition of Sporting Nation In The Making – III is a testament to this growth.
This comprehensive report compiled by GroupM’s entertainment and sports arm ESP Properties and SportzPower shows that sports sponsorship in India has grown from Rs 46,165 million (Rs 4,616.50 crore) in 2014 to Rs 51,854 million (Rs 5,185.40 crore) in 2015 accounting for 10.4 per cent of the total Indian advertising expenditure. That is a whooping 12.3 per cent growth.
ESP Properties business head Vinit Karnik emphasised how sports can be harnessed as a successful communication medium by brands. He said, “There is definitely a cultivated sense of understanding between corporate sponsors, sports teams and federations. A symbiotic marketing relationship has emerged within the sporting ecosystem in India. 2016 will be fantastic for not only players and federations, but also for brands and spectators, with a deeper engagement with sporting properties.”
Despite the challenges, ICC World Cup managed to garner Rs 5000 million (Rs 500 crore) in advertising revenues in 2015. On air sponsorships over all increased by 6.8 per cent YoY from Rs 25,180 million (Rs 2,518 crore) to Rs 26,900 million (Rs 2,690 crore). Out of which, 30 to 35 per cent was contributed by the emerging sports in India, while cricket took the bulk of the share.
Interestingly, only 30 percent of the growth came from On Air deals, while the rest of the 70 percent came from on ground sponsorships, team sponsorships, franchise fee and athlete’s brand endorsement deals, with on ground seeing most of the action. It grew by 30 per cent from Rs 7948 million (Rs 794.80 crore) to Rs 10,305 million (Rs 1,030.50 crore).
Though cricket bit the biggest chunk off this sponsorship pie, emerging sports leagues were the real growth drivers. Going by the figures roughly 51.38 per cent of the on ground sponsorship share was cricket’s contribution while the rest was all emerging sports.
“Sports other than cricket have successfully established themselves in terms of revenue and fandom within the Indian sporting firmament,” SportzPower co founder Thomas Abraham shared. “Sports like kabaddi andfFootball have massively increased sponsorship revenues in 2015 and we saw return editions of sports like tennis and hockey as well. The successful launch of the Pro Wrestling League bodes well for 2016, which will see the advent of more franchise based leagues. We expect 2016 to be a good year for cricket as well as other sports, generating ad spends and clocking in corporate investments at an exponential pace,” he added.
Infact, football saw an amazing 91.6 per cent sponsorship growth from the previous year valuing it at Rs 1140 million (Rs 114 crore) in 2015. The biggest success story is perhaps Pro Kabaddi League, which grew by 300 per cent YoY and clocked at Rs 480 million (Rs 48 crore) in on ground sponsorship deals without a title sponsor. As per Karnik, it was a clever strategy by the broadcaster to not lock down their title sponsor and raise the bar for the next season.
eCommerce brands took the lead as top spenders in the total ad spends on sports in 2015, followed closely by automobile brands. PayTM, CEAT Tyres and MRF Tyres together contributed Rs 1078 million (Rs 107.8 crore) per year, increasing cricket’s on ground ad spends by 14 per cent.
Endorsements played a huge role in upping the sponsorship ante in 2015 with the sector seeing 27 per cent growth. The biggest endorsement deal was undoubtedly Tata Motors’ bringing Lionel Messi onboard on a two year deal of worth Rs 600 million (Rs 60 crore) per year. 2015 also saw Virat Kohli entering the Rs 1,000 million (Rs 100 crore) endorsement club that God Of Cricket Tendulkar and MS Dhoni earlier ruled.
“Women are ruling the endorsement game when it comes to non-cricketing sports,” said Karnik. “Between Saina Nehwal, Sania Mirza and MC Mary Kom, the ladies share almost 40 per cent of the endorsement spends in the market with over 10 brands in each player’s kitty.” Abraham credited their sophisticated and enthusiastic engagement of fans over social media to be the driving factor apart from their continued good performance throughout the year.
The stress on digital, and social engagement is reiterated by both Abraham and Karnik as critical to players and teams as stats show that 70 percent of fans bring mobile phones to the stadium to share their experience, while 46 percent of mobile internet users search for sports related news and content online.
Karnik calls 2016 to be the year of the fans and points out two key trends that will drive growth in the sector. “Now that we have sowed the seeds of a sporting nation in India, 2016 will see a great synergy between broadcasters, association’s, franchise owners, players and all other stakeholders to come together to build a culture around sports and build the fanbase. Secondly longer seasons or play for they sport will give more opportunities for brands to engage with the fans,” shared Karnik, adding that Pro Kabaddi League will see two seasons this year. Abraham on the other hand names volleyball to be the next big entrant in emerging sports league scene, which will launch with three separate sub-leagues to its name — beach volleyball, men’s volleyball and women’s volleyball league.
