INDIA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Aarushi Jain, Pooja Kapadia and Maya Venkiteswaran, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas
Foundation and was India’s first home during the Olympics. The sponsorship data shows that many promi - nent groups such as Bharat Petroleum Corpo - ration 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 win - ning 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 liti - gation 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 sub - mitted a letter of intent to the International Olym - pic Committee to host the Olympic Games in 2036. While results are awaited, various pro - jects to improve sports infrastructure across the
have not only invested in leagues at the profes - sional level but have also been instrumental in developing grassroots level programmes, espe - cially 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 success - fully 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 opera - tions 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, broadcast - ing and securing sponsorship rights; and • companies like Nazara Technologies increased their stake in Absolute Sports (the parent entity of Sportskeeda, a digital plat - form offering sports-related news and con - tent). The exponential growth of sports-focused busi - ness with funding and growth prospects seems to be a growing trend.
country have already begun. Spending by private players
Private investments into sports in India contin - ued to surge in 2024. Private players and clubs
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