A career in sports no longer means sweating it out on the field. As a sports manager, you can have both the glamour and a hefty pay packet.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament that concluded early in June will go down in history as one of the most successful cricketing events ever held in the country. The 44-day extravaganza not only revolutionised the way cricket was played, viewed and managed in India but also made the world sit up and take notice of the game’s popularity in the subcontinent.

The magnitude of IPL’s success can be gauged from the fact that Cricket Australia, one of the first cricket governing bodies to embrace the shortest version of the game, has sought the help of IPL officials in restructuring its domestic T20 event. Pakistan, with its existing Twenty20 tournament, has decided to emulate India’s franchise system. The England Cricket Board, which holds the distinction of being T20 founders, has also taken a leaf out of IPL’s book.

“The IPL has shown the world how efficient management can contribute to the success of a tournament. Cricket is no longer the dreary game it was thought to be a decade back. It now comes with a complete entertainment package,” says Sambaran Banerjee, former Team India selector and cricket expert.

As Banerjee further explains, a team manager not only has to manage the players but also the support staff. “Nowadays, in almost every team, apart from the players there are around 25 people who form the support staff, including the doctor, the physio and the computer experts. A team manager not only has to manage them but also liaise with the sponsors, government officials and various associations. The popularity of this new format of cricket will increase the demand for efficient sports managers,” he adds.

How does one become a sports manager? “You don’t need a professional degree in sports management to become one. But it helps if you have a degree or diploma in the subject. What you need is a passion for sports and administrative skills. Commitment to the profession, energy, enthusiasm, perseverance and sporting spirit are the other attributes required,” says professor P. Dasgupta, head, sports management department, the Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management, (IISWBM) Calcutta.

Kolkata Night Riders’ chief executive officer Joy Bhattacharya, too, feels a team manager should be an able administrator. “A sports manager could be someone from the corporate world. But he has to be a good administrator. Part-time administrators are the biggest bane of Indian cricket. If cricket has to prosper in this country full-time administrators should be appointed,” he says.

“Even though crores are spent on the game, a sports manager’s job is largely viewed as an honorary one in India. A sports manager cannot simply throw in the towel and plead helplessness because of his preoccupation with some other profession. He should be accountable for his acts of omission and commission,” asserts Bhattacharya.

Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president Prasun Mukherjee says a sports manager cannot remain content looking after his boys. “He has to work in tandem with the PR guys, the media professionals, the government authorities and the police to ensure that the whole system functions well. It is basically his capabilities as an administrator that can make or mar a team,” says Mukherjee, who had to oversee the arrangement of the seven IPL matches played at the Eden Gardens recently.

He thinks the IPL needs to be commended for injecting professionalism into the game. “This new format of cricket has changed the way the game was managed earlier. Now a sports manager has to co-ordinate with several agencies and look into various aspects such as ticket distribution, ground condition, sound system, camera placement, security and crowd management,” he says.

The CAB chief, who also holds the post of additional director general and inspector general of West Bengal Police (telecom), however, concedes it is difficult to handle both the responsibilities. “Managing a sports organisation is an onerous task, especially in today’s day and age. We have therefore appointed Ashwini Kapoor, a former top official of a corporate house, as a full-time CEO to help us in our day-to-day activities,” he says.

Jeet Banerjee, managing director of Gameplan, which managed the Kolkata Night Riders team and turned it into a brand with the maximum recall, feels the IPL has brought new dynamics into the game. “It is an exciting time for those of us who are into sports management.The IPL has opened up vistas of opportunity for budding managers with an interest in sports. It is because of the IPL that yesterday’s backroom boys have become heroes,” he says.

Banerjee feels that more and more young people will be prompted to take up sports management as a career prompted by the success of the IPL. “Come what may, the IPL is here to stay. One of the important aspects of the tournament is that unheralded players have managed to come up trumps. So you have players like Lakshmiratan Shukla and Dhrittiman Saha who managed to steal the thunder from better known players,” he says.

From turning lesser-known players into heroes to infusing more money into cricket, the IPL has elevated the game to a new level. “For budding managers, the IPL has underlined that a career in sports management can take them places. Students who were once wary of taking up sports management have now begun to view it in a different light. They have now begun to realise the immense opportunities in sports,” says Dasgupta.

He feels that league cricket will offer great career opportunities in the years to come. “The sky is the limit for those willing to put in hard work. Today, sports offers excellent scope for career growth. And the money is good too. A sports manager can expect to begin his career on a salary of Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 a month, which can go up to Rs 3 lakh or even more,” he says.

Apart from sports organisations, several leisure management companies regularly recruit sports management students. Golf clubs, resorts, adventure sports and other leisure activity centres look for trained professionals to promote sporting activities. There are many private and government-sponsored sports institutions that employ qualified persons to manage their work at various levels.

To do a postgraduate diploma in sports management, one should have a graduate degree in any discipline. Most institutions offer a one-year postgraduate diploma in sports management such as the IISWBM, Calcutta, the Symbiosis Institute of Health Sciences, Pune, the Indira Gandhi Institute of Physical Education & Sports Science, New Delhi, and Alagappa University, Karaikudi.

“You can join as a trainee or an assistant manager and move up the ladder to become an administrator, president or even a CEO,” says Dasgupta.

Foreseeing the emergence of sports as a lucrative career opportunity, several institutes have tapped the new format of cricket to learn organisational behaviour, management and leadership skills.

“The IPL has shown how innovation in services can appeal to consumers. By re-packaging the sedate game of cricket with Bollywood entertainment, and by reducing the span of the game, the IPL administrators have infused new life into it. Attending a Twenty20 game has been converted into a family event like going to the theatre or a restaurant. The IPL has been successful in reaching a new customer base which may have been indifferent to the game earlier. We have incorporated its features into our syllabus,” Dasgupta says.

Hemant Trivedi, dean, Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad, echoes Dasgupta when he says that the IPL can offer lessons in motivation, financial management and project management. “There is a huge retail opportunity in the IPL in the form of souvenirs and merchandise. In India, sports retail is an emerging field which can offer tremendous opportunities,” he says.

Even B-schools in Mumbai such as the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) and the S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR) have introduced courses in sports marketing. “We have introduced a course in marketing and finance using the IPL as a base case study. I think as an academic institution we have a lot to learn from the IPL such as sports marketing, its various models and approaches, pricing issues, the auction process, branding issues, sponsorships and the concept of ambush marketing,” says Ramesh Bhatt, dean, school of business management, NMIMS University. “We plan to offer an elective in sports management. We want the IPL team to help us design the course,” he adds.

SPJIMR has made the IPL an integral part of its syllabus. “We recently had a very interesting discussion on the IPL, which saw enthusiastic participation by students and teachers. The IPL isn’t merely a case study, it’ll offer a great career opportunity for students in the years to come,” predicts professor Anil Kulkarni.

Clearly, the IPL is the flavour of the season and for sports enthusiasts with a yen for business, it is a golden opportunity.

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)