What is the first thing that comes to your mind when I say sports? Rigorous training? Teams? Athletes? Coaches shouting at the top of their lungs? Well in India Sports is an emotion. Sachin Tendulkar, Kapil Dev, and countless other sports legends have changed the whole spectrum of Sports. This industry especially in India has grown exponentially. The global sports market was valued at $488.5 billion in 2018 and was expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.9 % to be valued at $614.1 billion by 2022. In India, CAGR was predicted at 15%,according to DataPOWA.

The sports industry in India has created as many as 500000 jobs, contributing about 2 to 4 percentage to employment. For any industry,revenue from advertising can serve as a yardstick for future potential and in India,the $1-billion advertising dollar mark was crossed in 2018 and according to JSW Sports CEO Mustafa Ghousein 2020 it stands at ₹ 8,000 crores.

Supporting the numbers ESP Properties, the entertainment and sports division of GroupM India states in 2019 Indian sports sponsorship Industry crossed Rs 9000 crore growing at a rate of 17%. The biggest chunk of it is from VIVO who invested 2,199 croresas a sponsor for the Indian Premier League (IPL) for five years.

While Cricket has enjoyed being the center of attention in sports advertising but money is being invested in other sports as well like Badminton, Volleyball, and Wrestling.

The opportunities that lie in the future of sports in India is immense, if we talk about just the digital advertisement in recent years the dependence on it has increased as well by 84% from Rs 475 crore to Rs 875 crore in ad spends while TV is a great medium, brands have recognized the way to break the clutter is to channelize all the means at once to increase the reach and brand recall.

Technology is being leveraged to provide differentiated solutions to all the sports fans at once. Former professional tennis player Mustafa Ghouse and an Asian Games medalist is working to develop the professional world of sports in India with JSW Sports and has a lot to share with the world. About the future of sports, he shared that the industry is growing at an unprecedented rate with more inclusive growth across sports and an increase in the number of leagues is also a positive sign, as well as the allocated budget spend by the government on sports has also seen an increasing trend.

Another factor contributing strongly to the growth of the industry is the rise in the consumption of sports content, sports advertising, sponsorship, and CSR activities which have given sports a new direction in India. People adjust their schedules to watch sports events and some companies have been known to profit more when sports events like IPL or international events like the World Cup are in session.

Certain pivotal factors that contributed to the growth are:

- The “JIO EFFECT” essentially saw an increased consumption of data as Jio brought a radical change to the industry with competitive pricing from ₹ 250/GB to currently at ₹ 15/GB.

- Smartphone penetration at the grassroot level in 2019 India bypassed the US as the world’s second-largest consumer ofthe smartphone.

- With data and devices on hand sports content also got a huge boost to serve the customer with more platforms like Hotstar and SonyLiv which made consumption convenient.

- A change in the sports management in India is seen which would be great for future.

India has become ‘THE DESTINATION’ for sports consumption and every year it sets a new record of growth. Making it an interesting market to expand into with a plethora of options to explore. Many fantasy sports operators have earned the big bucks taking advantage of the same by partnering with fantasy sports data feed providers. Who has realized the potential of growth in India and expanded their services to include leagues like IPL in their portfolio. One such data provideroutthere is Data Sports Group, they offer experience as well as innovative advancement. With a bouquet of offering curated after careful analysis of the need of the customer, you could customize the services to suit your needs. They have established their presence in the market and continue to grow by leaps and bound.