Game of Words: View vs. Counter View 1.45

IS SPORTS BECOMING A BUSINESS

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    - By Ronak M.B

The role of sports to make life exotic; healthy and wealthy is terrific.

Presently, it has been extremely debatable whether involvement of corporate world in the field of sports invites more pros than cons or not. Sports is becoming a business because the competitive spirit among teams and individuals across all sports has been decreasing over a period of time. When a sport becomes a business, the focus shifts from talent to profit.

Although big prize monies and sponsorship deals can attract fresh talent into the game, sometimes the same can lead to problems like match fixing. It is not uncommon for international cricket and football players to get involved in match fixing controversies.

The pressure to perform can also compel many players to consume performance-enhancing drugs. What’s more, the events that attract corporate involvement are already popular on their own. For example, in India cricket is hugely popular so companies are eager to sponsor cricketers. Players of other less popular events don’t have any sponsors.

According to me the players no more play for the thrill and love of the game but have been lured and entangled into the vicious web of match fixing. They have become commodities to be traded and sold for extravagant sums of money and even clubs are being sold to the highest bidders. This has hampered and defamed the spirit of the game.

The spirit of loyalty due to expensive rewards to allure players, which may lead criminal activities such as doping; fixing and violence behaviour. Therefore, the chance of illegal ways to win incredible awards is gaining ground due to surplus money in sports.  

Lastly, exposure to eke out surplus money in sports might discourage youngsters to become professionals like doctors, lawyers etc. which do not yield as high a income to people as some sports do.

COUNTERVIEW
 - Arko Hazra

According to me sports is not a good choice of business the logic of competition and success is completely different. What makes football or basketball so exhilarating is that only one team wins at the end of a season. In the case of the world cup, there is one world champion, and all the other teams with crushed dreams and dispirited fans. For one team to win, every other team must lose.

The logic of business competition is nothing like this. The most successful companies, those that win big and create the most economic value, worry less about crushing the competition than about delighting and amazing their customers. The very idea of zero-sum competition (for me to win, you must lose) feels like a relic from a long-ago era of business.

Virtually every industry has room for plenty of different winners, each of which is great at serving a distinct piece of the market or a certain set of customers. The creation of economic value is completely different. Even the most ardent sports fans are quick to agree with the idea that a sport is a business. And the business of sports, it turns out, may offer even fewer lessons for business leaders than what happens on the field.

Unlike most billion-dollar businesses, which are owned by shareholders and governed by a board of directors, nearly every football team is owned by a single individual, and they are accountable to virtually no one besides the other billionaire owners. There are very few teams that are owned by non-profit organizations.

However in India, the scope for many sports is not as much as compared to other countries. Take football for example, the chances of a very successful football player in India is comparatively lesser compared to the other sports. This itself reduces the chances of business through football.

However, India excels in other sports such as cricket, hockey and badminton. But in any case, lack of business competition and business logic prevents it from being a

business.