Commercialization of Sports in India: A Study with References to Pre and Post Globalization Era

Abstract

Time has changed a lot for human-beings. There were times when people used to live in caves and covered their bodies with leaves. Although, it took centuries but still the cave-man has managed to enter the modern life of super computers and super conductors, to-day. Over the course of history many things have changed significantly for human beings. The ways of thinking as well as procedures of doing various things have changed incredibly for example, the way of living. Like countless other things, an immense transformation can bee seen in the field of sports to-day. In the beginning, main form of the sports was to show bodily strength and compete with others on the basis of this. To-day, we see millions of people in the world playing thousands of games involving bodily strength likely - foot-ball, cricket, wrestling, boxing, hocky, basket-ball, volley ball, racing and karate etc… Many sports are there which need different techniques besides bodily strength like – soccer and cricket etc… and there are games that involve only brain power like - chess and solving various kinds of puzzles. Many people in the world follow their favorite sport and sport stars crazily. Markets are full of shops that sell sport uniforms and goods or equipments. Fans love to buy shirts which have names or numbers of their favorite players. People are getting more and more into sports and it can be analyzed by looking at the profits made by different sports clubs of to-day. Soccer clubs make hundreds of millions of dollars annually. This revolution in sports was not possible if there was not the commercialization of sports. Commercialization has taken sports to the level where they are to-day. It has brought lot of changes to the sports, especially by making sports a big and profitable business. Sports can now be followed by every-body, every-where and every-second. More competitions are held every year as compared to past. More and more people want to participate in the sports because of this shower of grand prizes. It has helped sports in getting quality players. The sports have become much more exciting, interesting and competitive because of commercialization of sports and it has brought a very positive change in sports.

In this context, through this study provides, an analysis of the market for sports articles in India emphasizing on the production structure, distribution and trade and also consumption patterns. It will also look at the practice of sports in the country, existing facilities, fashion and branding, fair and promotional events, sports tourism, sporting goods (manufacturing and retail), sports apparel, amateur and professional sports, recreational sports, high school and college athletics, outdoor sports, sports businesses such as sports marketing firms, the sport sponsorship industry and sport governing bodies etc… in the light of exploring the potential market for foreign companies in India with also Indian companies.