India has never been short of passion for sport. What it has been short of is an honest, accessible conversation about the money, power and decisions behind it. That is why we are launching The Sports Columnist, and why our first story starts with a simple question: who is Indian sports business actually working for?
On the surface, the answer looks obvious. Indian sport has never been bigger. Stadiums are fuller, streaming numbers keep climbing, brands compete for every inch of jersey space, and new leagues appear every season. Look a little closer, though, and the picture becomes far more complicated.
One sport, one economy
Cricket is not just India’s favourite sport. It is, for all practical purposes, India’s sports economy. The vast majority of the money in Indian sport, from media rights to sponsorships to endorsements, flows through cricket, and most of that runs through a single league and a single board.
Let’s be clear: this is not a criticism of cricket’s success. The BCCI built one of the most valuable commercial machines in world sport, and the IPL rewrote what a league in India could be worth. It is a genuine business achievement, and one other sports could learn from. Our question is a different one. If India can build that once, why has it been so hard to build it twice?
The boards still fighting to stay afloat
Step outside cricket and the picture changes sharply. Many national federations depend heavily on government support. Leagues are launched with fanfare and then struggle to find stable funding. Seasons are delayed, contracts are disputed, and athletes are too often caught in the middle of governance battles they had no part in creating.
Parliament’s National Sports Governance Act, 2025 is an attempt to bring more structure, transparency and accountability to how federations are run. It is a meaningful step, but an early one. In our view, the gap between cricket and everything else is not a gap in talent or passion. It is a gap in governance, commercial thinking and transparency, and laws alone will not close it. Sports grow when they are run like serious businesses, with clear plans, open books and leaders who are accountable for results.
The fans are missing from the conversation
Here is what strikes us most. Almost every rupee in Indian sport ultimately traces back to fans: the tickets they buy, the subscriptions they pay, the attention they give to every broadcast and every brand. Fans are the ultimate custodians of the game. Yet the conversations about where sport’s money goes, who decides, and why some sports thrive while others struggle, mostly happen in boardrooms, trade reports and jargon-heavy press releases.
That needs to change. A fan who understands why a media rights deal matters, why a league gets delayed, or why a federation runs short of money is a more powerful fan. They ask better questions, they back the right reforms, and they hold those in charge to account. Right now, India is only at the start of that journey. The conversation exists, but it is not yet reaching the people it matters most to.
The story the world isn’t hearing yet
There is also a story about the future that deserves far more attention. Away from the headlines, India has become one of the most active places in the world to build sports technology, with founders working on athlete performance, fan engagement, broadcasting, ticketing and grassroots coaching. Yet most of their stories never travel beyond a funding announcement. India’s sports builders deserve a voice that explains what they are doing, why it matters, and how it fits into the bigger picture, at home and around the world.
Why we are here
That is the gap The Sports Columnist exists to fill. We will cover the deals, the money and the decisions behind sport, from sponsorships and media rights to investment, governance and sports tech. We will write for founders, executives and investors, but always in a way any fan can follow. And we will take India’s sports businesses, and the people building them, to a global audience.
You will always know where our facts come from. We will clearly separate reporting from opinion, link to our sources whenever we use them, and correct mistakes openly. You can read more about how we work in our editorial policy, or learn more about us.
Every game has a second scoreboard. Starting today, we are keeping it. Join the list to get our free newsletter, and follow the story with us.