India's Football Craze: A New Era

When I say (write) “football”, which country, player or league comes to your mind? India is probably not your first guess, I guess. Why can’t the country that rules the cricket world; be an average football team, let alone the best? And let me remind you, England created cricket and football, so that’s not the case if you’re thinking.

Yes, I have some pretty good questions, and yes, I have certain solutions, and yes, there is money involved! Geez, greedy much?

So let’s talk money. The FIFA world cup winning prize money is $40 million while the 2022 cricket T20 world cup prize is only $1.2 million. I mean, is popularity everything?

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The basic finance rule of demand and supply is what’s at play. People around the world want to see football, and broadcasting makes all the difference. The total viewership of the 2018 FIFA world cup was 3.572 billion people.

We are all fans of IPL and are aware of every team and player. But do we know our starting 11 in the Indian national football team? India is not even in the top one …….hundred! Yup, apparently, sabse aage honge Hindustani is gonna take a while in football.

Now, we know very well IPL is a month-long, annual, money-making fever in India, but with football, it’s a money-making coma. 😵 It's all business, and we know it. Mukesh Ambani, a master businessman, does not own an ISL (Indian Super League) team, but is interested in buying Liverpool FC, an English premier league football club. So much for “buy local”.

The European Football Economy

Hey India, take notes! 

The Indian Football team lags because of the sheer lack of scope. Not only for the players but also in terms of sources to earn from through the sport.

Call it negligence, but the state of Football in India is truly monetarily kupo-shit. In the case of European Football, the revenue-driving strategies just somehow keep working out like God came to the fields and blessed the sport for them. 

Broadcasting

The maximum amount of money is made by broadcasting rights, and the 5 major leagues are the most popular Barclays Premier League (ENGLAND), La Liga (SPAIN), Bundesliga (GERMANY), Serie A (ITALY), League 1 (FRANCE).

Barclays Premier League is the most popular league in the world, and they earn billions of dollars in broadcasting. They earn more than 4000 Sharma Ji ke bete (yes, we did the math)! For the 2021-22 year, Barclays Premier League earned €3.5 billion through broadcast rights alone.

To put this number in perspective, Barclays’ broadcasting revenue was greater than the next two earners combined. La Liga and Bundesliga together earned €2.05 billion and €1.46 billion, respectively.

Match-day

During the pre covid years of 2018-19 (when stadiums were not live Petri dishes of viral infections), Manchester United, an EPL team, earned approximately £3.96 million per game. Yes! On the match day, the home team earns via tickets, food and drinks.
I wonder why Indians are not allowed to drink in a cricket match… Wait! I just realised what I just said. If Indian fans can do what they did in 1996 at Eden Gardens. Best keep them sober!

But believe it or not, it’s a big part of their income and how they pay their players.

Also, they sell their jerseys as merchandise. I know you must be thinking, “Big deal, how much can a team earn from jerseys?” Well, the English club Manchester United made 60 million dollars in jersey sales in 12 hours with the transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Player market

Europeans and “people trade” doesn’t exactly sound like a fun ordeal, but football clubs and player exchanges are not as bleak as you would think. We are used to watching cricketers playing IPL once a year and playing International matches more often. In European football, however, the players hardly play for their country 6 to 7 times a year, with each cup holding 2-3 matches per team. And that’s how much I contribute to my workplace. They call it the international break.

The top 3 club matches, on the other hand, pit each team against another in 30+ matches.

The teams contact the players or get them transferred from one team to another. Neymar Jr was sold from Barcelona (a Spanish club) to Paris Saint Germain (a French club) for £222 million. 

What can we do to change the Indian state of football?

It’s going to take a while, but it can work. We must support Indian football, not just the national team but the Indian Super League. We need to realise the importance of football in India and how, in the next Fifa world cup, as I am writing this piece, the Indian national football team's rank in the world is 106. It's so sad.

I, for one, am living proof that India is a football-loving country. Not just us but higher sports authorities in the country should also make efforts to increase funds. The funds for cricket in India are way more than the International Cricket Council. Indians need to realise that football can significantly increase our nation's economy. Till then, we can support other countries in the FIFA world cup. I’m supporting Argentina.
(Editor’s note: This article was written before the 2022 FIFA finals. The writer is indeed an Argentina fan and not just a poser.)

It’s odd if you think about active cricket players like M.S. Dhoni and Virat Kohli are Indian football club owners, and football players are not even recognised in our country. Hell, IPL teams even have their own valuation as companies! Remember when CSK became a unicorn? Imagine if these teams had IPOs and you could get a little piece of the FIFA action!

Paisa hi paisa hoga!