This years Business India Forum was held on July 22, 2010 and the event once more organised by Celebrasian UK was held this year in London at Christie’s. A lovely small, niche auditorium amongst all those works of art from around the world.
The mix of topics this year was once more quite interesting with sports business meeting luxury and lifestyle in an Indian context, something with the exception of IPL isn’t really the case for India just yet. So something which is set to become more and more real for India in the coming years.

It was a half day forum with over 100 delegates attending. The opening session had the title “Overview of the Indian economy and three sectors”. Ridhika Batra, Director – Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, UK; was in the chair with Vijay Goel, Indo-EU Business Forum; Deepak Lalwani, Astaire Securities; and Farid Haque, Global Markets, Accenture as panellists and they all gave their views on how business could and should be done in India plus where the opportunities and possible problems lie. This set to tone for the rest of the afternoon.

The second session had the topic “The Business of Sports” with myself as the moderator with the focus mainly on cricket and football. My panel included Ishan Saksena, Chairman, Queen’s Park Rangers FC; Ashish Ray, Author and journalist; Kevin Roberts, Editorial Director, Sport Business Group; Anders Grundberg, Partner, McGuire Woods; and Clive W. Leach, Chairman, Durham County Cricket Club.

I started off giving a general overview on the Indian sporting field with the IPL the often mentioned example of commercialisation of sports in India, but I also gave the audience the information that football is a fast growing sport in India with the question to be asked on how and where can cricket grow further. My aim was to give an overview not only of cricket and football, which still where the main focus. My seasoned colleague Ashish took the discussions to another level as he is a cricket purist and was more interested in Test cricket, while most of the world was interested in 50 Overs and T20. An interesting discussion developed as India has clearly shown that Test cricket is of no real interest for the general public these days, while T20 is the new craze through the IPL; while in England Test cricket still has its place of its own. An interesting comparison was made as a strong league doesn’t automatically mean a strong national side. England and the EPL in football were compared to India and its IPL in cricket. And yes, it scarily sounded correct as both national sides have failed in recent major competition.

We also focused in the session on the main topic of business of sports in India. There are numerous opportunities not only in cricket and football with the example of the 30 year deal signed by IMG-Reliance with the Basketball Federation of India recently made, but there are also chances in Formula 1 and Golf.

After a tea break “Session Three – The Burgeoning Luxury and Lifestyle Markets” was held with Amin Jaffer, Director Indian Art, Christies; in the chair. The panel included Fiona Sanderson, Managing Director, The Luxury Channel; Onita Prasada Vashish, Owner, Onitaa Fashion; and Kevin Rego, International Head of Sales and Marketing, B4U TV.

The fourth and final session was on “Doing business in India”. It had Carl Nisser, Board member, Europe India Chamber of Commerce Counsel & McGuire Woods; as the moderator. The panel included Atul Gupta, Director, Euro Max Capital; and Parvinder Bhatia, Wasserman Media Group – India. They talked about the does and don’t in the Indian market. One thing that came out clear of this session was anyone interested to do business in India needs to know and then also understand how to do it in India. And that is the difficulty for international business across all fields as even multinationals have failed in India.

By Arunava Chaudhuri

http://arunfoot.blogspot.com/2010/07/business-india-forum-london-review.html

The British Amateur Boxing Association (BABA), which operates the GB Boxing team, has appointed sport and entertainment agency Generate to develop and deliver a new commercial strategy.

Generate will be working with the British Amateur Boxing Association to plan and deliver a commercial strategy including maximising broadcast media rights, digital, event innovation, CRM and sponsorship opportunities to leverage increased interest in the sport following the success of the 2012 Olympic Games.

Generate will work in collaboration with the BABA’s retained Media & Communications Consultant, Lee Murgatroyd, and report to the Chief Executive (CEO) of the BABA, Matthew Holt.

Matthew Holt said: “We believe that boxing possesses a great combination of assets and are looking forward to working with Generate to create a strategy that will allow us to develop the sport and ensure we continue to capitalise on the success of 2012 as we focus on the road to Rio in 2016.”

Andy Muggleton, Co-Founder & Commercial Director at Generate, said: “We’re delighted to be working with the British Amateur Boxing Association at what is an undoubtedly exciting time for the sport of boxing.

“We have a real passion for the sport, and having previously worked on commercial strategy with NGB’s such as the British Canoe Union, Volleyball England and Archery GB we believe there is a fantastic opportunity to deliver a strong commercial plan for the sport.”

Circuit of The Americas (COTA) and motorcycle racing legend Kevin Schwantz has become a new ambassador for the circuit.

Schwantz will serve as an official ambassador for COTA and work to promote the upcoming Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas MotoGP event set for April 11-13, 2014.

“Kevin is a great champion and partnering with him gives us an opportunity to learn from his deep knowledge, as well as continue to celebrate his accomplishments,” Circuit Chairman Bobby Epstein said. “Kevin and I have always shared the desire to see him be a part of COTA, and it’s awesome to finally see it become a reality. A great American track and a great American champion in the same city can’t be kept apart. As a result, casual riders, current racers, future stars and the fans all win.”

“I look forward to being the ambassador for two-wheel racing for COTA, especially as the 2014 MotoGP season begins and returns to Texas,” Schwantz said. “Grand prix motorcycle racing has been my life, and to help COTA market and promote that moving forward is exciting!”

As a COTA ambassador, Schwantz will play a prominent role in a variety of promotions for the upcoming Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas event in April, including media availabilities and fan activities. For example, Schwantz will serve as Grand Marshal for the MotoGP race on Sunday, April 13, and will lead the parade laps scheduled for COTA’s personal seat license holders on Friday, April 11, between grand prix practice sessions.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) Board has approved the introduction of an International Women’s Championship.

This bi-lateral competition involving the top eight ranked women’s teams will determine qualification for the next Women’s World Cup.

Competing countries will include Australia, here West Indies, anesthetist England, doctor New Zealand, Sri Lanka, South Africa, India and Pakistan with promotion and relegation at the end of the first cycle.

Each team will play the others in a series of matches between mid-2014 and the end of 2016, with the top teams qualifying automatically for the ICC Women’s World Cup in 2017. 

ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said: “This is a very positive step for the profile and competitiveness of women’s cricket.

“It guarantees a more regular and balanced programme of meaningful ODI cricket for a broader group of nations than ever before.

“The ICC Women’s World Cup last year set a new benchmark in terms of quality and public interest and with this added context the pathway to the 2017 event in England looks really exciting.”

The bottom countries at the end of the International Women’s Championship will be joined by a number of teams from the ICC’s regional qualification structures to play in an ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier which will determine the final Women’s World Cup participants.

London will have their first afternoon game after the timeslots for the three regular season games in London have been announced.

The announcement also creates a new morning time slot for viewers in the United States.

The NFL said Wednesday that the game between the Atlanta Falcons and Detroit Lions at Wembley Stadium on Oct. 26, diagnosis 2014, will start at 1:30 p.m. local time.

The league said the switch will make it easier for a global audience to tune in and also create an unprecedented fourth game window for American viewers that day.

The Wembley games have traditionally started at the same time as the 1 p.m. kickoffs in the U.S. The other two London games scheduled for next season — Dolphins-Raiders on Sept. 28 and Cowboys-Jaguars on Nov. 9 — will both start at 6 p.m. local time.

The Global Ocean Race (GOR), one of sailing’s greatest challenges, is set to receive a major lift for its third round-the-world event for Class40 yachts, now scheduled to start in September 2014.

Organisers of the Class40 Association-endorsed race announced that in order to raise its profile and bring it the attention the event deserves, they have taken three important steps: 

• Brought in a team of experts in media, ocean racing promotion and marketing 
• Expanded the number of classes in the race, so that entries can now be single-handed, two-handed or fully-crewed 
• Delayed the start by one year to take full advantage of the new arrangements 

Meanwhile, they have agreed a number of sponsorship deals for the event and can already confirm a strong entry interest from at least eight solid Class40 projects. 

“We have successfully completed two Class40 round-the-world races,” said Josh Hall, the GOR Race Director and CEO, “but we believe it is time for the race to fully evolve. To that end, we have created a new management structure bringing in some of the most experienced people in media, sponsorship and the marketing of a truly global yacht racing event. To permit our new team the appropriate timeframe to realise the planned levels of media and funding, we have decided to delay the race until 2014.”

“Our boats cost a fraction of those in the other major ocean races, opening up the thrill and adventure of sailing at speed through the Southern Ocean to a whole new generation of skippers and crew,’ explains Hall. ‘In times of recession, I believe this will attract both aspiring ocean sailors and fully-experienced yachtsmen. Our boats now regularly average the speeds that Maxi Yachts in the Whitbread were doing just over a decade ago. It offers the best of sailing on a budget that many more can afford. Crucially, it also allows sponsors, who have been leaving the sport due to the massive costs, to return.”

Central to the new organisation will be a Steering Board, created to boost the organisation that supports the event. Members include a top TV producer who has overseen Olympic coverage for the BBC among others; a former CEO of three major broadcasting organisations; a leading public relations professional; a specialist in sponsorship fund raising and management and a commercial director with extensive international experience. Four of the five have already been contracted and each has considerable experience in ocean racing promotion, marketing and media coverage. The names of the Board and full details of the changes will be released in the New Year. 

“These appointments bring one of the sport’s most experienced and successful teams to the GOR and justify our delaying the start of the race,” added Hall.