Serving an ace

SPORTS BIZ - I: Corporate sponsorships give tennis a much needed boost.

Let's turn the clock four years back. Two world class doubles players conquered the world, but a rift between them brought things to a standstill. Not too many international tournaments were happening in the country and the money involved was petty. Circa 2006: We have a rising tennis star, lots of international tournaments and money pouring in from all quarters. So how did it happen?

As top ranked doubles' team in the world, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi won a lot of plaudits and honours. There was a genuine interest in tennis and people sat up and took note. But it was Sania Mirza's rise in the game that had got people excited about the sport.

Back in 2002, the total money involved in tennis was about Rs 10-12 crore. At present, it is somewhere close to Rs 70 crore "" a growth of about 500 per cent. While the numbers may seem small compared to cricket, they definitely show how the sport has grown in the last five years.

Globosport "" the sports management company which handles Mirza "" has been at the forefront of promoting the game in the country. Anirban Das Blah, vice president, Globosport feels that there has been a surge in interest from corporates in the game. "There is no doubt that after cricket, tennis is the other sport where money is pouring in."

ITC was one of the first companies that got involved with the sport with the Gold Flake Open and since then it has been regularly organising men's and women's tournaments.

DSCL too has been associated with the game for quite sometime now and others like Kingfisher and Tata have been actively promoting the game. SAIL has been sponsoring the Davis Cup for several years now.

But are the sponsors coming in at the right time and are they in for a long haul? "Definitely", says Blah, "we had Kingfisher who came in with a one year contract but changed it to a three-year deal and so did Sunfeast."

For a lot of companies it is a part of their giving back to society phenomenon. Says Ajay Shriram, DSCL, managing director, "We also want to build infrastructure for the sport so the interest in the game is for the long term."

It's not only about brand-building activities for the corporate. "Corporates need to come forward and extend support to sports in India. " adds a Kingfisher Airlines spokesman.

There are quite a few talented players who are knocking on the door of stardom. Neha and Shikha Oberoi, Sana Bhambri and Prakash Amritraj are a few of them.

Broadcasters like Ten Sports and ESPN have been giving a lot of coverage to tennis as well. Apart from the grand slams, live coverage of local events too has garnered eyeballs. But is one Sania Mirza enough to sustain it for a long time? Given the way she has been playing in the last few tournaments!