Sports Revolution: The rise of the Industry and Career opportunities

Times of India recently published an elaborate article on the explosion of the sporting industry over the past decade. The credit of such upswing in the domain goes heavily to the number of sporting leagues that have emerged in recent years. Though IPL, the star attraction of all marked its resplendent arrival about 12 years ago, an array of such leagues and contests bloomed in the last 5 years.

The games that witnessed such a grand volcano of opportunities were wrestling, boxing, badminton, kabaddi, football, volleyball, and about 10 others. With such massive growth in the industry comes innumerable opportunities. These opportunities exhibit a successful horizon and showcase the best talent of the country both on national and international stages.

Indian Premier League (IPL), the cricketing mega blockbuster in the nation is valued at a whopping $6.3 billion. This is setting new records for the industry that has been in place since the beginning of time. The humongous cash flow that the industry is dealing with currently has made sports management programs the top choice among young sports aspirants.

Mr. Nilesh Kulkarni, former Indian Cricket Team spinner and Founder-Director of IISM, was the harbinger of a phenomenal avant garde idea to start up a sports management institute in the country. With the inception of International Institute of Sports & Management (IISM) in 2010, Mr. Kulkarni laid the path for other schools and universities in the country to develop thorough sports professionals who can capitalize on this surging domain with their relevant education and intensive training.

While other universities make way to introduce management courses in the sports vertical, IISM already has association with Mumbai University and extends gold standard internship opportunities with the industry leaders. This is possible because of IISM’s extensive network in the sporting sector nationwide.

Nilesh discusses with TOI about the substantial shift in demand-supply ratio of the industry due to the tremendous surge in the past decade. IISM extends 3 industry specific programs for students to get acquainted with the heart of the industry and deeply understand its functions.

The three courses: Bachelor of Sports Management (BSM), Master of Sports Management (MSM) and 11 month post graduate autonomous course in Sports and wellness (PGPS & WM) work in close conjunction to provide the sports sector of the country with the future industry ideals. The academic credentials to join IISM are set by Mumbai University and they conduct their test on the lines of CET.

After IISM, several institutes have sprouted with similar courses to nurture the talent and produce stars of the future. The networking opportunities that IISM extends are supreme and with its world class education standards, it remains the most popular choice among sports management aspirants.

The multi-billion dollar industry is already growing leaps and bounds and this unstoppable growth requires passionate and well-educated talent to come in and champion their development along with the industry. The sports industry is not limited to individuals with athletic prowess, it is in fact run by fervent professionals who work the entire year to bring out the best in front of the camera and on the ground. Year after year, IISM provides the country with rigorous sports managers, wellness professionals, broadcasting executives and sports media administrators. The extensive demand calls for more well-trained individuals who can fill in the empty gaps that emerge with invincible growth.

Though the government is endeavoring to encourage sports in the country with its newly devised Khelo Indian Youth Games initiative, Nilesh advocates for the right framework and regulatory bodies to be in place that can uplift the status of sports in the country in a meaningful way. He believes that sports should be seen in same light as finance, banking and other white collar sectors. Sports is one of the biggest industries in the world and it is about time that India also accords it the same status. This refined business can structure promising careers with an added benefit of everlasting interest.

Source: Times of India