The recent World Cup on our shores took the game of Hockey a few notches up in terms of viewer participation and general interest in the sport. Every sport professional identify that for the game to grow, the nerve center of the game has to be bestowed on India.

Another under-performance from the India team leaves us with two options of analyzing the tournament! First, was it an opportunity lost, in regaining our past glory or was it a tournament that germinated an idea that Hockey and its Indian component, had all the right attributes, to emerge as the second Indian sport discipline, that had the viability of creating a sports business model with mass following attributes? I rest my judgment on the second option, self being a sports professional.

My opinion is not emotive in its reasoning. I however believe that people at helm of affairs of Indian hockey and business houses wanting to invest in the sport, have to take into consideration the following internal and external environment, before they decide on their judgment on Indian hockey.

These are my observations on the environment in which Indian hockey exists and the opportunity it provides as India’s second mass sport with a robust business model:

Need to move away from the past glory factor:
Color TV and live sports broadcasts started around 1982-83. An Indian victory in the 1983 cricket world cup and a corresponding failure of Indian hockey, to get a podium finish in the 1984 Los Angles Olympics, marked the start of the long gap between the two sporting disciplines, which would subsequently emerge in the years to come and in turn decide their contrasting social and financial status.

What needs to be put into perspective is the fact that we need to completely stop the grossly unfair comparison between Hockey and cricket. This is all the more pertinent from a business point of view. Comparisons with cricket vis a vis valuations, sponsorship amounts and TV ratings; is uncalled for.

Despite the underachievement in terms of performance by the Indian team; the Hero Honda world cup has been a successful financially event in terms of sponsorship and ROI for everyone concerned, right from the broadcasters, organizers to the sponsors. It is a different matter that the value of the same is no where compared to the IPL or big ticket cricket events.

But a comaprision is like saying that no business model is viable unless its product has a global reach. Other sectors of business sees successful brands of various sizes and niches. Their success is not in their top lines, but more in their bottom sector. The most important lesson for Indian hockey organizers from the recent world cup is that they have to move away from the “past glory” emotive selling point. Yes hockey draws an emotive response from the consumer, but making the” Past glory factor” the line of communication, results in disappointment from the consumer point of view and affects the brand equity of the product.

The future line of communication therefore should revolve around the fact that India is a top 10 side in the world and ever improving; support India in its path to the top. If the consumer is informed of the present stand of Indian hockey, its approach and path to achieve a top position; it will result in consumers having more realistic expectations from the game.

Performance has nothing to do with the financial power or the mass adulation enjoyed by a sporting discipline! If that was the case England would win a majority of soccer tournaments and India would replicate the same in cricket. More than the fans it is important for the business investors in hockey to adopt a pragmatic rather than an emotive approach, the results will surely follow.

2. Opportunity to create Hockey’s equivalent of the IPL:
Ironically city or region based teams forming a league was pioneered in India with Hockey & the PHL (Premier Hockey League), later replicated by the ICL and followed by the IPL in cricket. However the PHL had a few chinks or fundamental flaws in its impressive product, which need to be ironed out before it is again revived. The PHL in its original avatar was run by the infamous IHF, led by KPS Gill and the now tainted former secretary Jyothikumaran.

Though ESPN, did its best in terms of packaging the tournament; it was run like a boot camp and players were divided into various teams without any team identification or private participation in terms of team owners. A different owner adds to the identification factor for the teams and creates vibrancy in the league. This is one factor that did not catapult two sports leagues in India into mass products, PHL and ICL.

A different owner also adds to the level of competition and accountability factor for players and stakeholders. Another major disadvantage was the fact that the tournament was played in only one location, taking away a critical component of league sport: a home and away fixtures and schedule. If these two chinks are ironed out, PHL as a format will work wonders for Indian hockey and its constituent global fraternity, especially the remuneration & social factors of all international players.

3. Modification of the basic product to make it more television friendly: For a sport to survive in the modern contemporary world where it competes with various other forms of entertainment, to earn its share of the pie from the entertainment dollar; it is of paramount importance to emerge as a television friendly product.

The huge success of EPL and IPL lies in its fundamental laying of importance as a television friendly product. Similarly Hockey has to identify its weaknesses as a television sport and take radical decisions, to deliver a better television product.

Hockey could be a more attractive sport if the playing composition of a side could be reduced from eleven players to eight or nine and four quarters of 20 minute each. Many hockey stalwarts have said about it in the past. The positive impact on the on-air advertisements for the same can be best gauged by even a lay man.

The reason of having 9 players is to reduce the crowded scenario in the penalty circle and encouragement of more field goals, making the game more attractive and consumer friendly. This is all the more relevant and feasible today with the rotational substitution implementation in the game. As a fan it was my first time experience away from the 4-4-3-2 (European) or the 5-3-2-1 (Asian and Australian) combinations, used in earlier hockey formats. If I could add my own suggestion, how about florescent pink balls instead of the traditional white, it sure is more necessary for the fast paced hockey.

In the final analysis time is ripe for a Hockey 8s league (PHL or IPL format) to mushroom out of India.

A study and proposal by Samir Pai of Zee digital, Mumbai