Second edition of Volleyball league is
going to start at Hyderabad from February 5th, 2022. This is young
league in India and coming again after 2 years of interval. Sports league helps
engaging new fans to sports, attracting new players, motivating kids to play
sports, creation and maintenance of sports infrastructure and helping economy
around the sports to prosper. It is full ecosystem building around sports and
related activities.
First edition of Volleyball league created
lot of buzz and there is enough evidence to support it. The first edition
witnessed 14.3 million viewers sample on Sony Pictures Network (SPN) India. As
mentioned by SPN Chief Revenue Officer, Volleyball is famous in South India
however, it gained interest in other parts like Assam, West Bengal, Gujarat and
Haryana. Another way to see popularity is to judge performance of fantasy game
developed by popular platforms. Volleyball fantasy game built by MyTeam11 has
seen consistent rise in daily users leading company to double prize pool during
first edition.
However, starting a total new league in
itself is very difficult process. It is more difficult when the league is in such
sports having less interest compared to most popular categories. For example,
In India, cricket is most popular sport so success of Indian Premier League for
cricket gained extremely good momentum even unexpected results by far compared to
expert opinions.
Following are few important points to take
into consideration to start any sports league in any part of the world.
1. League Structure Stability
Main aim of any sports league is always
long term and delivering annual growth to League founders and investors. League
structure should be engaging, with viewership growth potential, with
involvement of complete sports ecosystem including but not limited to viewers,
sponsors, sports authority bodies, broadcasters, investors, players, sports
infrastructure.
For example, Volleyball league in India
started with short duration of 21 days, 18 matches and with just 6 teams. All
teams play with each other on round robin basis and top 4 teams enter into semi-finals.
This small structure is helpful for getting experience on various aspects of
league operations and economy. It also helps in gauging fan interest. Inputs
from this learning will help next season to improve more effectively.
2. League Financial Stability
Every league needs money to run the show. More
money is needed if sport needs to be promoted extensively to generate fan base.
Money required at various levels like starting a league, operational cost
during league, marketing expenses at league start and in operation.
For example, Volleyball league in India
set benchmark for any new league. They have followed format in which team
owners are also stakeholders in the respective leagues. This gives financial
stability to league.
3. Relation with local sports bodies
If league is started by sport body itself
with private support, it is most desirable way of starting any league. Sport
body is governing mechanism for specific sport in country or region. They
manage sport related infrastructure, scheduling sport tours & games, spending
on training and development of young talents, promoting sport within country
and region. So, it is easy to schedule sport league and making it part of yearly
sport calendar of sport body.
If league is completely started by private
entities, it needs to collaborate with sports bodies such that they are also interested
in overall proceedings. Otherwise, there will be issues and disputes related to
sport calendar, not getting NOC (no objection certificate) for national team
players, not getting good infrastructure for league.
For example, Volleyball league in India
started by Baseline with support of Volleyball Federation of India but then
they both went into disputes. Federation terminated 10-year contract with
Baseline and dispute went into arbitration. Arbitration rule was given in favor of Baseline however, second edition is going to be complete private league. For
long run of league, it is always advisable to get support of local sports
governing bodies.
Other example of private league is Indian
Cricket League which started separately without involvement of BCCI but it did
not last long without support of BCCI which is apex body of cricket in India.
4. Fan Base
For any league, fans are important part. Fans Engagement is extremely crucial for long term brand viability of any sport
or team or league.
Volleyball league in India started with
six teams out of which four are from South India where Volleyball is most
popular. In second season, one new team is added from South India to increase
fan base. Matches are scheduled in South India venues like Kochi, Chennai and
Hyderabad.
5. Competitiveness
It is also important for any league to prepare
strong teams including combination of national and international players. If
players are available, team formation will be very good and without any bias. People
watch sports because of excitement and fun. If matches played are very close
fought, viewership will rise.
6. Reputation
Governing of any sport league with transparency
and with complete ethical behavior is important factor. This helps in gaining trust
from investors, sponsors, players and fans in to the league. Strong rules for governing,
proper financial auditing, transparent selection process for teams and player
auctions are crucial for building reputation for the league. So, it requires
experienced sports experts, professionals to run the league as complete
business entity.
7. International Market
It is very important to have international
sport audience in mind. Broadcasters are helping matches go live
internationally. This helps in attracting good international players to play in
the league and thus increase fan base.
For example, the global volleyball market
is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.5% during the forecast period, from 2021 to
2028 as per Industry Growth Insight. Volleyball is included in Olympics since
1964.
Volleyball is very popular in Brazil,
United States, China, Japan and it is played by men and women. Field Volleyball
and Beach Volleyball are different versions. The Fédération Internationale de
Volleyball (FIVB) organizes international calendar for various Volleyball
related competitions. It is estimated that over 300 million people are playing
volleyball worldwide.
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