Fair Play?
–Divyaansh Chhipa
Batch of 2023-27
Talent in sports has no bounds. But outside the cricket boundary, pay dives in India.
Sports in India isn’t treated as a mere source of entertainment, rather it lives in the hearts and souls of the populace. Here, TVs are broken upon not receiving the anticipated outcome, and firecrackers light the skies when the game is in our favour. All this emotion poured into sports also translates into equivalent amounts of money being pumped into it. Merchandise, celebrations, parades, you name it and they have capitalised it in the name of sports.
Sports in India is not just about athleticism; it’s also a 1678.6 million dollar industry. Football is by far the most popular sport in the world. However, India’s largest sports bowls out the Indian football and kabaddi associations by garnering an astounding $447.27 million annually—43 times more than them.
When you consider that the five highest revenue-generating Indian cricketers have a net worth of at least 27 times more than the five highest revenue-generating Indian footballers, you can begin to see the seriousness of the pay disparity. The fact that Virat Kohli has a net worth of $127 million, while Sunil Chhetri’s net worth is merely $5 million, perfectly demonstrates the same. It would be even more disappointing to compare it with the net worth of Kabaddi players. The riches amassed by these cricketing icons dwarf the earnings of even the most celebrated footballers and kabaddi players in the country.
The rationale for this significant wage discrepancy may be attributed to the massive sponsorships that cricket obtains, compared to the meagre sponsorships that football and kabaddi together hoard. The variation in remuneration between the three contested sports may be better understood from the standpoint of the producers motivated by the profit maximisation incentive. When we examine the sponsorships that each gained, cricket received 90 million dollars in sponsorships in 2019, which is more than twice as much as football and kabaddi combined could get—72 million dollars.
In an attempt to analyse pay differences, we may use the justification that the largest audience yields the biggest income, which in turn leads to greater compensation. Switch on the television and it is cricket that commands your attention. While the best-performing matches in other sports barely manage to break the one Television Rating Point mark, even the worst-performing cricket matches rack up 5.76 TVRs. In a country where sportspeople from other sports typically find it difficult to gain attention, cricketers are revered as gods.
The wide ball, which is the iconization of Indian Cricketers, can be attributed to the fact that cricket has positioned itself as a culturally significant element of the “Indian Identity”. Football’s poor popularity in Indian homes may be explained by its foreign origins, but cricket isn’t indigenous to the country either. When it comes to profitability, both sports bypass the Indian sport of Kabaddi. By sheer numbers alone, BCCI generates revenue of more than $2 Billion, while the All India Football Federation and the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India stand at $10 Million and $0.803 Million respectively.
While football and kabaddi are on their upward trajectory in terms of fanbase, revenue generation, and media coverage, they are yet to fully compete with the giant that is Cricket. A few moves that have recently aided their popularity are the formation of leagues such as the Indian Super League for football, and the Pro Kabaddi League for Kabaddi enthusiasts.
In addition to the financial feasibility of each sport, deeply ingrained cultural preferences and societal views are reflected in the disparities in pay among Indian sports. Cricket has dominated sponsorships and viewership because of a confluence of historical factors and clever marketing strategies that have elevated the game’s profile in the community. Conversely, even with their broad appeal, football and other team sports need help to gain the same momentum.
It’s not enough to merely acknowledge the unfairness, though. To solve this issue, a multipronged approach including governmental organisations, the general public, and stakeholders in the sports industry is required.
One strategy may be to fund and actively promote non-cricketing sports at all levels, from professional leagues to grassroots development programs. This will serve to diversify the athletic environment and boost the chances of success for athletes and professionals in other sports.
Promoting a more welcoming culture in sports that supports and honours players from all backgrounds is also essential. This may mean promoting sponsorships and media coverage of sports other than cricket and advocating for sports instruction in schools to expose children to a wider range of physical activities.
Ultimately, for Indian sports to be fair, all stakeholders must work together to challenge conventional thinking, address systemic inequities, and create a more welcoming and equitable playing field. By understanding the value and potential of every sport and person, India may reach its full potential as a worldwide athletic giant.
To explain why football dominates the world landscape or why the Indian heart beats for cricket is challenging, but to notice that the play isn’t fair is tremendously easy. There’s not much you or I can do except for switching the channel to Football, Kabaddi, or any other struggling sports. To level the playing field, government intervention is a must. In terms of intervention, the government can understand and improve incentivization, promote varied sporting events throughout the country, and provide sufficient resources to put all other sports on an upward trajectory.