It was great interacting with participants from Indian Oil (IOC )the Maharatna Company of Government of India. We had interesting session on Business Ethics and Society under the umbrella theme of Embracing ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) through Responsible Leadership.
Sustainability and Digital Transformation has been an enduring theme for my teaching and out reach work during the year and I look forward to continue to contribute to these twin trends.
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DTW
During the Week, Indian Premier League (IPL) Player Auction at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai saw different franchises make their final bid to get a great combination of Indian and Foreign talent for IPL 2024. It was heartening to see the Indian uncapped players steal the limelight. There has been a great democratisation of sports and sports management over last few years and platforms have played a part in this transformation of Indian Sports.
IPL is one of most admired sports league in the world and has been a great attraction for brands in South Asia in general and India in particular. In fact, brands presence during the IPL season is a barometer for the funding status of particular industry whose brands are prominent in ad-breaks during IPL broadcasting. We have seen a tsunami of advertisements from E-commerce, FinTecg, EdTech, Fantasy Leagues and more recently crypto-currencies related platforms featuring prominently during the cricketing tamasha over years that’s also called IPL.
You could read the earlier newsletter on Platforms and Sports ; Sports and Platform Businesses AND Enabling New Forms of Consumer Behaviour
If you would click on the earlier links, you would realise that the platforms have become an integral part of the sports ecosystem. In fact, over last few seasons we have seen an increasing gamification of audience engagement over HotStar’s platform. Their integration of WatchnPlay and other initiatives like Fantasy Leagues have made the entire sports watching focused on social and online immersive experiences.
We could use the BLUE Framework to navigate the Sports-Platform Landscape in India.
B - Broadcasting revolution has made the biggest impact on nature of Sports over last few years where Platforms drive the change through innovative broadcasting, making content accessible globally. Platforms foster league partnerships, altering the traditional sports landscape for both fans and athletes. They have enabled fans to generate content, contributing to the evolving narrative of sports.
The rise of creator economy in sports has three main dimensions- leveraging on fan following for distribution, content curation by crowd sourcing and re-intermediation. We have seen that the sportsperson and their fans are getting connected through new intermediaries thereby creating re-intermediation. Instead of spending money on traditional distribution and financing channels, creator-led direct-to-consumer brands are spending tremendous resources on social media and advertising platform companies like Facebook and Google.
L - Live Interaction has created an unprecedented Fans’ Engagement creating interactive experiences during live events. Platforms contribute to Fans’ Engagement by forming digital communities, enhancing the sense of belonging among fans. Through data analytics, platforms tailor content, enhancing individual fan experiences.
As an athlete , growing importance of fitness wearables from Apple, Google and Amazon make them part of the evolving sports platform ecosystem. These platform based wearables like smartwatches or even heartbeat monitors have ensured that the sportsperson have a more immersive experience while playing. Most of the times they are coupled with dashboard including performance indicators/leaderboards and social connect available across all the platforms. There is also a possibility of using AI platforms for facial recognition for controlling unruly fans, ticketing, intelligent driver less parking and of course IoT for facility management in stadiums.
U - Ubiquitous Access breaks time and space barriers for the entire sports ecosystem. Platforms ensure ubiquitous access to sports content, breaking geographical barriers and Immersive technologies on platforms elevate Sport Content Interactions thus providing a richer viewing experience.Even in India, multiple platforms seamlessly integrate esports, expanding the spectrum of sports content.
The BigTech platforms have made significant investments in online gaming and Covid19 has accelerated the trend. A cursory glance at major players like Google Stadia, Microsoft’s Xbox, Sony PlayStation Now , Nintendo Switch , Nvidia’s GeForce , Amazon Twitch and Facebook Gaming tells us that the market is already crowded but also shows that the future of sports might be online and on platforms.
E - Expanding Reach through Accessible Viewing has democratised sports viewing thus reaching a global audience and diverse demographics. Technologically, through Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality, platforms redefine Accessible Viewing, offering virtual front-row experiences.Emergence of Esports, hosted on platforms, represent a new era of accessible and inclusive sports.
Sports related platforms have helped in Training , Performance and Recovery. Like I mentioned earlier, mental training has become an integral part of the sports world and an Indian company Dhyana has built a meditation tracker that measures heart rate variability (HRV) and has built-in algorithms to understand how meditation affects your Autonomous Nervous System - the part of the body that feels stress & relaxation.
This BLUE Framework encapsulates the dynamic relationship between Sports and Platform businesses, emphasising the evolving nature of sports, deepening fan engagement, and transforming the consumption of sports content.
Few years back, I wrote about the challenges in Indian sports and had suggested a Bleed BLUE campaign for reviving Indian Sports while writing for Business Line in Campus.
Bleed BLUE focussed on learnings from some of the finest enterprises about goal-setting and achievements- Understand the demand-supply pattern, leverage the existing ecosystem by crafting future-oriented enablers and create a broader coalition of stakeholders, with particular efforts at roping in the fence-sitters. You could read the detailed analysis in this link. Translating all this to Olympic glory for India as part of a Bleed BLUE framework means:
Build a coalition of important groups to renew their buy-ins ; Leverage existing infrastructure ; Understand what we are historically good at, and Enable mechanisms to get the best out of current assets.
OTW
Over the Weekend, I watched the medical drama The Good Doctor and quickly became a fan thanks to its likable characters. Of course, I love the protagonist Dr Shawn Murphy who can be hilariously funny in a charming way without even trying to be funny and just being his natural self.
As usual, I found interesting life lessons through the words and actions of the lead and supporting characters. Lea Dilallo turns out to be an important character who creates opportunities for Shawn to try stuff!
“Just Because Something Is Hard, Doesn’t Mean You Can’t Do It.”
Both in sports and medicine , sometimes it is worth taking calculated risks as the scenarios change during the game/surgery. You succeed or you learn!
Try something new and exciting as December comes to an end and heralds the beginning of new year.
I Love You
Shailendra
PS- If you are in Belgaum/Goa/Pune over the week/weekend, do drop a message. It would be lovely to catch up.