Recent Trends in Sports in India – The Ball is Finally Rolling!

The Indian sports industry is fast paced. It’s no longer seasonal or driven by a single sport. The Indian market has matured to allow a variety of sports to be enjoyed and there is excitement to enjoy them (in person and online) all year round too.

The last year saw a whirlwind of sporting emotions with the launch of new sporting leagues, fulfilment of Olympic dreams, growth of e-sports and the use of technology (including AI) to enhance playing and viewing experience. There was also an uptick in the number of fans for a variety of sports, which led to increased footfalls in stadiums, high-value bets on media rights and increased fervour for investments in the sports space. The last year was also a coming-of-age year for recognition of player rights, with Vinesh Phogat, Manu Bhaker and many other athletes using legal methods to safeguard their rights.

Data suggests that the Indian sports industry is expected to grow at twice the rate of the country’s GDP and reach a new high of almost USD130 billion by 2030. This is reflective of the potential sports holds for itself and the various allied industries. We discuss some trends and recent developments in this industry in this article.

Policy Initiatives

2024 saw some policy proposals at both the central and state level.

Draft National Sports Governance Bill, 2024

The Draft National Sports Governance Bill, 2024 (the “2024 Bill”) was released for public consultation on 10 October 2024. The 2024 Bill, pending finalisation, aims to provide clear guidelines and processes for, inter alia:

• recognising sports authorities by establishing a sports regulatory board;
• increasing the representation of athletes within these sports authorities; and
• establishing a dispute resolution commission and an appellate sports tribunal for resolving sports-related disputes, etc.

Draft National Sports Policy, 2024

The Draft National Sports Policy, 2024 was released for public consultation on 11 October 2024. Modernising the industry and addressing the various shortcomings of the National Sports Policy, 2001 were the main reasons for the introduction of the policy.

The Draft National Sports Policy, 2024 envisions sports being used for nation-building purposes. It aims to, inter alia:

• improve infrastructure;
• improve talent identification;
• promote indigenous games;
• integrate sports into curricula; and
• leverage sports for economic development by boosting sports-related tourism and manufacturing of sports goods.

State-level policies

Sports falls under the state list within the Constitution of India. Therefore, while the central government formulates policies at the national level, states can also formulate their own policies to implement the central government’s policies, as well as promote and incentivise sports development within their territory.

For example, the state of Andhra Pradesh formulated its sports policy for the 2024-29 period (the “Andhra Pradesh Policy”). It aims to:

• increase reservations in government jobs for athletes;
• use AI, wearables and the internet of things for athlete development, performance monitoring and enhancement; and
• use augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to revolutionise training sessions and tournaments.

The state of Rajasthan also released its draft sports policy which aims to provide athletes in the state with medical insurance and medal-winning athletes with life insurance. The draft policy also provides pensions for international athletes, para-athletes and coaches who are non-government employees.

Other states are likely to follow suit. These initiatives act as an incentive to attract talent and make sports a viable career option for young people.

Spending and Initiatives

The spending and investment initiatives by the government of India, state governments and private players align with these policy initiatives.

Government spending and initiatives

Funding allocation by the government is a key factor in propelling the growth of sports in India. The Indian government has allocated approximately USD398.4 million towards sports in its budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year, marking an increase of 10.08% in sports spending in this financial year. It has also allocated approximately USD438.55 million towards sports in its budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year.

In an attempt to transform sports into a lucrative career option, the central government extended the benefit of reservations in central government jobs to athletes who deliver exceptional performances at the Khelo India’s Youth, University, Para and Winter Games as well as players of national and international chess competitions.

India’s Olympic dream

2024 saw the government betting big on the Paris Olympics with funding of USD54.2 million. There was so much excitement for the Olympics that one of India’s top designers, Tarun Tahiliani, designed Team India’s uniform, which was inspired by the Indian tricolour flag and combined modern and traditional elements.

Many Olympic dreams were fulfilled with a silver medal and five bronze medals. India House which celebrated Indian culture, heritage and achievements was sponsored by the Reliance Foundation and was India’s first home during the Olympics.

The sponsorship data shows that many prominent groups such as Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, the Reliance Foundation, Adani Sportsline, JSW Inspire, Aditya Birla Group and Yes Bank, etc sponsored Team India at the Paris Olympics.

Emotions ran high with Neeraj Chopra winning the silver medal. This was followed by some nail-biting moments when Vinesh Phogat was disqualified in her final wrestling round for being merely 100 grams over the weight limit. In response to the disqualification, the Wrestling Federation of India supported Phogat and filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport which they unfortunately lost. This was the first time India had filed an appeal in the Olympics and has opened the door to possible future litigation in the support of athlete rights.

The successful 2024 Olympics was followed by a landslide win for India at the Paralympic Games where Indian athletes broke all records and won 29 medals: seven gold, nine silver and 13 bronze. This achievement marks a new pinnacle of success for India. The Paralympic Games saw a plethora of sponsors including IndusInd Bank, SBI Life Insurance, Krafton India, Indian Oil, etc.

With Olympic success on their side, India submitted a letter of intent to the International Olympic Committee to host the Olympic Games in 2036. While results are awaited, various projects to improve sports infrastructure across the country have already begun.

Spending by private players

Private investments into sports in India continued to surge in 2024. Private players and clubs have not only invested in leagues at the professional level but have also been instrumental in developing grassroots level programmes, especially in remote towns and villages. Notably:

• the Sachin Tendulkar Foundation set up a sports facility in Satara in Maharashtra in 2024 and unveiled its plans to construct more than 50 playgrounds in Dantewada and Chhattisgarh; and
• clubs like FC Goa of the Indian Super League (the national football league) have successfully initiated competitions at the grassroots level, like the Little Gaurs League in Goa.

The investment by private players extended to sports-allied verticals as well. For example:

• Decathlon, the French sporting goods giant, has disclosed plans to invest USD111 million into the Indian market to expand its operations to add 63 new stores in 40 cities across India;
• Swiggy, one of India’s largest food delivery platforms, has also recently taken steps to dip its toes into the sports industry. The new subsidiary will, in addition to owning a team, also focus on talent development, event organisation, facility management, broadcasting and securing sponsorship rights; and
• companies like Nazara Technologies increased their stake in Absolute Sports (the parent entity of Sportskeeda, a digital platform offering sports-related news and content).

The exponential growth of sports-focused business with funding and growth prospects seems to be a growing trend.

Sports Leagues: The New Gold Rush in Entertainment

Sports leagues have seen a substantial increase in numbers in 2024-25. Several new leagues hosted their first editions in 2024-25, notably:

• the Kho Kho World Cup, 2025 was hosted in January 2025 in New Delhi and saw 23 nations participate;
• the World Pickleball League was also hosted in January 2025 in Mumbai and saw players from more than 14 countries take part. Celebrities like Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Atlee, Rakul Preet Singh, Riteish and Genelia Deshmukh, Rishabh Pant and Sunil Gavaskar own/co-own different franchisees in this league;
• the Rugby Premier League, one of the world’s first franchise-based rugby leagues, is the product of a ten-year partnership between Rugby India and GMR Sports and is set to take place in 2025; and
• the Women’s Hockey India League is set to take place in 2025 with teams being owned by companies such as JSW Sports.

Many more leagues are in the pipeline for the year ahead.

Sporting leagues aside, India is set to host its first “continental tour javelin-only event” in May 2025 and the first-ever World Athletics Continental Tour event in August 2025. These events are expected to provide Indian athletes with an opportunity to showcase their potential, while also establishing India’s ability to host major sporting events, in the build-up to India’s bid to host the 2036 Olympic Games.

The popularity of sports will likely boost sports tourism as well.

The Aces of Acquisition

Passing the torch: New leadership

The last year also saw changes in ownership dynamics in several established leagues including the following.

• Healthcare and energy conglomerate Torrent Group recently acquired a majority stake of 67% in the IPL franchise Gujarat Titans from Irelia Company Pte Ltd.
• Vedanta, a leading Indian MNC, acquired Kalinga Lancers, a Bhubaneswar-based hockey team in the Hockey India League.
• Toyam Sports Limited, a publicly listed company which is dedicated to the production, promotion and management of various sports, acquired the Hyderabad franchise in Legends League Cricket.

It is evident that the sports industry has expanded from being a small-scale ecosystem with businesses focused on a few mainstream sports to now being a massive industry in search of new opportunities to tap into. Conglomerates and celebrities are increasingly seen purchasing teams and even leagues across a variety of sports, which bodes well for sports’ future.

Indians go global

Indians are taking a leap of faith and transcending boundaries to invest globally. GMR Group, in a first-of-its-kind deal, recently acquired Hampshire County Cricket Club setting a new precedent in the sport. The GMR Group also acted as the principal sponsor of the Seattle Orcas for the Major League Cricket season.

As per recent news reports, Reliance Industries Limited won a virtual auction to acquire a 49% stake in the Oval Invincibles cricket team. Similarly, the RPSG Group won a bid to purchase the majority stake in the Manchester Originals while the Sun Group won a bid to purchase 100% shares of the Northern Superchargers.

Cross-border deals come with their own set of structuring, legal and tax nuances, vis-à-vis ownership, rights, compliance, governance, repatriation of funds and the like. We should continue to see more outbound activity as well as deal-making in the sports space.

The Disney-Viacom18 merger

Two media broadcasting giants, Viacom18 Media Private Limited (Viacom18) and Star India Private Limited (Star India), the wholly-owned subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company (Disney) merged to form India’s largest media and entertainment company. The merged entity now holds a dominant position in sports broadcasting, controlling approximately 80% of the Indian sports market across both linear television and over the top (OTT) platforms.

With the fruition of this merger, the Competition Commission of India (the “CCI”) raised concerns about its effect on the sports broadcasting market which were addressed by Viacom18 and Star India resulting in the CCI approving the merger. It will be interesting to see the offering of the merged entity and its effect on competition and rights.

Rights

Monetisation of sports rights is no longer limited to broadcasting, digital and media rights. Recent trends suggest that sports leagues and teams have been investing in/granting rights for:

• setting up fan parks for community viewing;
• offering fans loyalty programmes with special lounge access, merchandise and tickets, social media recognition, etc at a premium;
• gamification: these rights are creatively being exploited to allow the right-holders to create a game based on the league, with the use of the league and team trade marks, player attributes, etc and offer fun activities like quizzes and polls during the match, for better brand visibility and fan engagement;
• enabling viewers to use new-age technology to view the match from different angles thereby enhancing viewership experience;
• digital technologies like NFTs, AR/VR experiences for watching matches, etc; and
• creating documentary and short-form content depicting the teams, the players, and/or the matches, etc.

Increasing awareness of rights and the value attached to them necessitates a hawk-eye review of agreements and rights to monetise them well and advantageously.

Sponsorship rights

India has seen a spike in sponsorship deals, for old and new leagues, with large as well as new businesses supporting various events of this kind. For example:

• the Indian contingent for the Paris Olympic Games secured sponsorship deals worth approximately USD5.77 million from various prominent brands like the Adani Group, the Reliance Foundation, Jindal Steel Works, Aditya Birla Capital, Yes Bank, Amul, etc;
• the Kho Kho World Cup 2025 secured sponsorships to the tune of approximately USD9 million from several brands like EaseMyTrip, GMR Aero, Zomato, Blackberrys and Tata; and
• the World Pickleball League saw sponsorships to the tune of approximately USD10 million from brands such as Barclays Private Bank, Apollo, Skullcandy and EKA.

There is a growing trend of rights fragmentation in sponsorship deals with an aim to attract multiple sponsors to brand different elements of the sporting event. While the availability of multiple sponsorship rights at different price points is encouraging businesses to secure sponsorship rights for brand visibility and enhancement, it is also adding to competitiveness for key spots such as broadcasting sponsor, jersey sponsor and other rights.

These rights are typically sold for big bucks, usually following a bid process (especially in the case of established sports). Sponsorship space will continue to be in demand as unconventional brands tap into this space.

Athlete rights

Players across sports have achieved stardom, thanks to social media and publicity management services. This has led to players becoming aware of the importance of protecting their personality and image rights.

Personalities (eg, an athlete) can restrict unauthorised usage of their identity to safeguard their right to livelihood and privacy as part of constitutional rights. Furthermore, self-regulatory bodies such as the Advertising Standards Council of India specifically prohibit using the attributes of any well-known person in such a way that it confers an unjustified advantage on the product advertised without the personality’s consent.

Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker was recently caught up in an ambush marketing web. Upon winning two medals, Manu Bhaker’s pictures appeared across different brand advertisements. These brands had used her attributes, without her consent, to cash in on her fame. Bhaker’s team was quick to react to the unauthorised use of her personality and sent legal notices to these brands.

It was a welcome change to see athletes becoming cognizant of their rights and taking action against those who violate them. Another welcome trend is that several athletes are now represented by management agencies who help negotiate fair deals for athletes. The increase in popularity of sports as a sector, better pay scales for athletes, sponsorships and awards, fandom, and incentives, can all be reasons for athletes to take their rights seriously and appoint advisors to protect them.

While athletes venture into the world of brand endorsements, it is important for them to know the law on advertising and the dos and don’ts from a legal perspective. It is also important for them to discharge their legal obligations and execute well-balanced and fair agreements.

New Tech in Sports: From Reel to Reality

The use of technology in sports is now a reality. For instance, the use of assistive technology such as 3D printed or tailor-made customised wheelchairs, advanced prosthetics, navigation systems (for vision-impaired runners) etc, aided Indian players to compete at the Paris Paralympic Games.

Athletes and teams are also increasingly using AI and other technologies to, inter alia, develop personal coaching plans, track health and fitness data of athletes, study player patterns as well as strengths and weaknesses, etc. For example:

• the Table Tennis Federation of India collaborated with Stupa Sports Analytics to analyse player performance and provide AI-generated insights based on player health and fitness data; and
• nSure Healthy Spine collaborated with the Finland-based Nordic Health to introduce a data-driven musculoskeletal health technology platform in India. This platform helps optimise exercise therapy devices to improve player mobility and reduce injury risk.

Many Indian IT companies have also made headway in integrating AI in sports. Infosys, one of the leading Indian tech entities has, in collaboration with Tennis Australia, introduced a myriad of AI-based platforms for the Australian Open 2025.

The growing potential of sports technology was demonstrated when Indian Venture Capital firm, Centre Court Capital launched a dedicated fund of USD42 million, targeted at investing in sports technology start-ups. This fund is composed of investments made by significant investors, including the family trust of JSW Group’s founders as well as Azim Premji’s wealth fund. These investments in India-based companies will bolster the growth of technology development.

With the advent of new technology in sports, various licensing and collaboration agreements are being entered into between technology companies and stakeholders.

The use of new-age technology including AI in sports may also bring about its own nuances such as copyright ownership challenges in using player data and attributes, patent exploitation and protection for sportstech inventions, user harm-related concerns such as online abuse, psychological harm in interactive sporting games, consumer protection issues where sports apps indulge in misleading advertising practices such as dark patterns and greenwashing, ethical issues in use of AI and technology, etc.

Looking Ahead

The future of sports in India is being shaped by numerous trends including the popularity of new and unconventional sports, public and private investments, growth of sports-focused funds, sports franchising, etc. In addition, the growth of the sports sector will be significantly impacted by the use of technologies, particularly AI and AR/VR. This will give rise to more immersive and personalised experiences, enriching the future of sports. Sports allied industries continue to show a lot of potential as well with sports infrastructure, branded products and merchandising, training academies and sports tourism on the rise. The ball has only begun rolling for sports in India, promising a home run in return!