Racing for profit

The Mumbai Marathon was run on Sunday. Now find out who made the money.

The clock at the finish read 2:12:03, as Daniel Rono raised his hands triumphantly. That was five days ago, but the celebrations for Procam, the promoters of the Mumbai Marathon, are only just beginning.

Not only were there a record number of participants (up from 24,000 last year to 29,000), but charities mobilised over Rs 5 crore in sponsorship (up from Rs 4.43 crore last year). And not to be overlooked, the Mumbai Marathon, in its third year, officially clocked a Rs 30 lakh profit for the sports management company.

Ever wondered what kind of monies change hands to organise a marathon? According to Procam, the cost of organising the event is a heady Rs 12 crore.

There are 5 tonnes of championship timing equipment flown in, 50 professional runners sponsored for flights and hotels, 75,000 tonnes of water consumed, the cost of a live telecast, 200 medical professionals on stand-by, the list is endless.

Says Vivek Singh, joint managing director, Procam International, "I could make do with less and people wouldn't have a point of comparison, but we want Mumbai to be compared to the best."

Singh is hesitant about providing details of a cost-revenue break-up, but suffice to say that the primary revenue stream is sponsorship monies from title sponsor Standard Chartered (sponsors to six marathons around the world), and associate sponsor Essar.

It's simple math: Standard Chartered and Essar together toss up Rs 6 crore, and total prize money is just under a crore ($210,000), so Procam has Rs 5 crore to spend and benefit from.

The financial model has Procam creating cost platforms, and soliciting sponsorship from leaders in those segments to offload costs. So Doordarshan and Zee sponsor the live telecast, Kingfisher supplies the water, Titan provides the clocking equipment, DHL the logistics, and so on.

"We want sponsors to see so much value in being associated with the marathon, they will never relinquish to a competing supplier," explains Singh.

With most cost segments attracting partial or full sponsorship, what are Procam's costs? "On a ton of other paraphernalia "" barricades on roads, venue, running a media arm to handle the telecast, and advertising." Surely, money raised through registration fees is a revenue source?

"We raised a little more than Rs 30 lakh this year, but 90 per cent of that is absobed by the cost of registering 29,000 participants; we employ a 15 person BPO for a month to electronically manage the process," Singh claims.

Singh is tactful when it comes to discussing government revenue. "They put in more than they get out," he says. "The BMC beautifies the city, the police force is mobilised...okay, so the fact that we telecast to 150 countries across the world shows the authorities in good light."

In time, Procam will be banking on a smaller but significant revenue stream "" the Mumbai Marathon Expo. Says Singh, "We're looking at making it an annual lifestyle and sporting destination; we want the 75 vendor stalls to go at a premium over four days."

With the kick-off of the Delhi Half Marathon last year, also promoted by Procam, the potential kitty is sizeable.

"It takes at least five years to begin to see the real financial sense in promoting a marathon. The day I make serious money is when I successfully create such an invaluable property of the Mumbai and Delhi marathons that I can renegotiate sponsorship on my terms," concludes Singh with a smile.