‘JSW Sports IPO possible by 2025’

India performed well in the Birmingham Commonwealth Games as did the athletes sponsored by JSW Sports.

Yes; Of the 21 athletes supported by JSW Sports, 13 won medals. It was very encouraging to see so many medals in different sports in which we don’t usually win medals. The results show that India has a lot of talent but it needs more structure and public-private partnerships. We started JSW Sports in 2012 and the idea behind it was to promote non-cricketing sports in India. At the time, we asked ourselves, how could a nation of 1.2 billion people not win a medal at the Olympic Games? With that thought we wanted to give the right support to the athletes.

Events like Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and obviously the Olympics are creating new heroes and new ideas and that is how the sport is going to grow. The government is giving jobs and prize money, and it is also encouraging many people.

How much has JSW invested in Sports Portfolio and IIS?

We . spent close to 100 crore building IIS in Vijayanaga. We opened its doors in 2017. We have had tremendous success with freestyle wrestler Sakshi Malik who was the first athlete from our sporting event to win bronze in Rio in 2016 and then we had track and field athlete Neeraj Chopra and freestyle wrestler Bajrang. Punia who won in Tokyo. We also have another center in Haryana, which is a public-private partnership with Sports Authority of India. Among other things, we have a high altitude training center for boxing in Himachal Pradesh, a judo center in Manipur and a swimming program in Odisha. With this, we support approximately 1,400 athletes.

we spend close 40 crores each year to support our institutions across India and this includes the money we have raised from donors. In addition to our parent company JSW, we have over 30 corporate donors that contribute to the IIS Trust. This money goes to funding all institutions and supporting our athletes. This also includes what we spend on research and development.

Would you consider taking the company public?

I have an ambition to become India’s first public sports company, with a presence in all sports, a talent management arm, and cricket and football academies in the country. I think these are the right vehicles to go public by 2025. By that year we expect the sports ecosystem in India, as well as our sports franchises, to be mature enough for us to consider going public.

In IIS, are you focusing on specific games?

We are focusing on five sports at the institute: Boxing, Wrestling, Judo, Track and Field and Swimming. Commonwealth medals, be it triple jump or steeple chase or long jump, high jump, boxing, wrestling, judo etc., have benefited many of our athletes and it helps us to work more in coordination with the government. The union will help these athletes.

How is your profitable side of business like cricket, football and kabaddi franchise working for you?

For IPL Teams, New Rights Deal Is Unbelievable, It’s Going To Generate Every Team Anywhere 350-400 crore profit every year. The IPL is on a different level altogether, and is one of the most valuable sports assets globally.

Football is running at huge losses and the ISL remains a club. Though we are investing huge amount, the popularity of football in India is still very less. Hence, there is still some time left for it to mature or start making profits. Profits in sports, in these franchise businesses, are mostly determined by the TV and digital audience. On the other hand, Kabaddi is probably the second most popular league in India. It’s modest but at least it’s profitable now. We have also added Dubai Capitals and Victoria Capitals along with our partner GMR to our T20 cricket league portfolio this year.

Is India close to becoming a multi-sport watching country?

Neeraj Chopra proved that Indians can win even in events like track and field, this led people to believe that Indians can win gold in Olympic Games. We also have legends like boxer Vijender Singh, Mary Kom; Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu. In badminton, today it is because of Saina (Nehwal) that there are many top Indian badminton players who are challenging at the world level. Every game needs heroes to advance. Sushil Kumar did it in wrestling and now we have so much talent. Avinash Sable is my all time favorite athlete with his amazing performance that beat two Kenyans.

It was just unbelievable. These are stories that will inspire generations to come. There has been a lot of structure in Indian sports over the past decade. Initiatives like Khelo India are impacting sports in a good way. A new sports code is also coming into force, making federations more accountable.

At what level should athletes start scouting?

Initially, we followed the same model of international organizations like Olympic Gold Quest, Anglian Medal Hunt, Go Sports etc. We were picking athletes who were very talented at the junior level or performing well at the senior level and providing them. The right coach, nutritional support, sports science, etc.

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