Last Sunday, one of sporting history’s gigantic event came to an end, when FIFA world-cup concluded in South Africa. Some 750 million viewers were expected to have witnessed Spain beat Holland in Johannesburg’s Soccer-city. Its an indication of the magnanimous reach of sport events across the globe. But is it just about growing popularity of the game? I don’t think so. Its about business, its about growth, and its about money that the sport itself is able to attract.
In football, it all begins at the league tournaments. Individual players are bought based on their capabilities, which, to an extent, is a fair-game. But the whopping sum that they are payed for their “loyal” services to the club are extremely disparate. In Bayern Munich, for instance, a Mario Gomez would be paid anything between 30-35 millions euros in contract, an Arjen Robben would play for 25 million euros, and in the same team a new-comer like Hamit Altintop would cost the club just up to 2.5 million. The bucks don’t stop here!
The clubs are frequently interested in buying successful players from other teams. The transfer fees are astoundingly higher than tag prices in separate auctions. For instance, Real Madrid has been offered 155 million euros by Manchester United for transferring their star goal-keeper Iker Cassilas. On the home-turf, there is big money too! The notorious Indian premier league in Cricket had hit news when its Mumbai Indian team bought upcoming talent, Kieron Pollard for whopping 750,000 dollars or English Andrew Flintoff in IPL 2.0 enjoyed hefty price tag of 1.5 million dollars.
Apart from sporting career, players benefit from off-field publicity events, product promotions, and brand ambassadoring. The latest record is held by Indian skipper, MSD, when he sealed a deal with Rhiti sports, a PR agencey, for 200 crore rupees. He surpassed batting maestro, Sachin Tendulkar by 20 crores. Its not money that is the problem, its filthy “big” money that is bothering many. Sports is a magnificent form of entertainment, that is natural and creative. And yes, players who are good at it must earn wage based on their merit. But somewhere, there must also be a line drawn between capitalizing and commercializing the sports, before its too late…
p.s. : I wonder if its the time create an entity similar to SEBI for IPL that monitors bidding, auctioning, and dealing.
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Junta Speaks