ISL’s inflated market problem — ‘We have to draw the line now’

An inflated market in the Indian Super League (ISL) is one of the biggest impediments in Indian football’s progress. The tournament’s market valuation has dropped below the Rs 300-crore mark. The broadcast rights value has seen a 95 per cent collapse — from Rs 275 crore per season to Rs 8.62 crore last term. What is the course correction? In an interview with RevSportz, NorthEast United FC CEO Mandar Tamhane spoke about why the time has come to draw the line. Excerpts:

Q: After the hiccups last year, do you say this is a new journey for the ISL?

A: Yeah, I think it’s a new journey.
It’s a new journey in terms of the commercial space that we all were in the last 12 years to now where we are heading. I think it is a direction that we all are very positive about and we feel that the way forward for Indian football to grow is with the growth of the clubs also, along with the AIFF. So, I think now that the commercial side of things is going to be 90% to the clubs and 10% to the AIFF, it’s a direction that I think will help us all the clubs individually also, and Indian football.

Q: What happened to Jamshedpur FC, how big a setback is that to Indian football?

A: I think the fact that such a big corporate in India, which is known for its credibility, decided to move away from I would say Jamshedpur FC. I’m not saying moving away from football because they will be involved in football.
Obviously TFA has always been there in the first place and we hear that they are likely to start a similar academy for football in Jamshedpur. So the fact that they have backed out from Jamshedpur FC is definitely not a good sign. I think it’s a sad thing for Indian football because they are a big group and such a big group, when they exit from a league, it is definitely not good for Indian football. But you don’t know what the reasons are. The reasons are obviously at the board level. So, it’s a board level decision rather than anything that is happening with any individuals or Indian football per se.

Q: Coming to NorthEast United FC and the club’s associationation with Reebok… In terms of commerce and also also in terms of football,
could this be a game-changer?

A: I think it’s definitely a very, very big thing for NorthEast United Football Club. Also from an Indian football landscape, when everybody is so concerned and worried, and rightly so, what is going to happen next for Indian football, then you have a brand like Reebok, which in India is backed by a big corporate like the Aditya Birla Group. And when they see some merit in NorthEast and Indian football, I think it’s a good sign. It’s something that we are very proud of. We are very, very very thankful and grateful to the Aditya Birla Group for having that trust in us.

Q: NorthEast United FC is one club in the ISL that revels in stability. You have a coach who has been here for more than four seasons.
You are not into that managerial merry-go- round.

A: I think we are in a good space. I consider as a CEO of the club that we are in the right space right now. As you mentioned the continuity not just with one as a coach for the last four years but also a lot of the players. We’ve tried to maintain a continuity of almost more than 80% on an average for the last four seasons where the players have continued with us. We have a lot of staff apart from the coach working in the club off the pitch also, who have been there for the last four years. So, I think all these factors are important. As you mentioned, it’s a process. So they are part of the process and these factors are very, very important when you are building something.

I say it very jokingly that we may be the poorest club amongst all the 13-14 clubs that are playing in the Indian Super League. But the fact that we are trying to take one step at a time, investing in the right people, whether it’s the players, coaches or even the staff that are working with us as a club, is a journey. And I feel now we are at a stage where we have a team that can definitely try to aim for the top-three in the current Indian Super League.
I think we have the ingredients to do that and I am confident that we should be able to meet that.

I’ve always maintained that the long-term goal is to represent India in Asian club competitions, which technically means you have to win here. We try to represent our country in the club championship in Asia and do well. That’s one goal. The second goal obviously will always be to try and ensure that we have a great
pathway for the players from the grassroots from new development to the senior team.
Four years prior, when I joined NorthEast, we didn’t have a single player to represent in the national teams, various national teams, not just the senior but also the U-17s, the 20s, the 23s and the senior national teams. Today, we have got almost 17 players from across different age groups up to the senior team.

Q: The ISL will start on October 10 this season. What about the media rights and commercial rights? Is the AIFF doing enough to market the game properly?

A: Firstly, I wouldn’t like to blame the AIFF for this to be very honest. Because now, more so, it is the responsibility of us clubs collectively to go into the market to get the right broadcaster, the right marketing sponsors, etc. Because 90% of the commercial rights are going to be owned by us clubs. So it is not the AIFF, which is holding it back or telling us do this or don’t do this. It is just collectively that we are working but the lion’s share of the decision-making will always lie with the clubs, right? So, obviously we are having these conversations with multiple partners. We’re having multiple conversations with at least three-four partners that we feel can be potentially the right partners for us to grow. I think a lot of work is going behind the scenes.

Q: There is a clear case that an inflated market is pulling the ISL down. So would you like to address the issue?

A: I think I agree with you. This is my personal opinion, and there is no disrespect to the players or any staff or anybody earning any money. But if you have to be very honest, the kind of salary certain players demand to what the output is on the pitch, it’s not proportional. And that’s a fact. But how is this market inflated? People will say the players are bulldozing, the agents are bulldozing.
But yes, that might be the case, but who takes the final decision? It’s the clubs that take the final decisions; the CEOs, the owners..

How can we resurrect it? I don’t think it’s a question of resurrection. It is a question of
an individual club and its ownership, along with the CEO, the technical director, whatever you call director of football or whatever you may call, have to take these decisions. This is what the owners want to spend or not spend.
So that’s the only control.

It is the clubs’ responsibility to try and curb this. And I think with this new model of the way a club l-led model is coming in, I think there will be some correction. We have to draw the line now. So we are doing that.

Q: NorthEast United is not owned by a conglomerate. Does it create a completely different atmosphere across board when there is an owner like John Abraham?

A: For me to answer this question is very simple. John is a great owner in my opinion.
It’s not that John just knows about football.
John knows about Indian football.
When I’m discussing with John, I can discuss with him about every player, Indian player.
So he has got enough and more knowledge about how a certain Indian player plays or how he doesn’t, and he will always voice his opinion. So for me, it’s a very, I would say engaging and intelligent conversation talking about Indian football with him.
See, we talk about football with everybody today.

He’s putting his own personal money into it.
So we are enjoying it because there’s a very good humane side to it.

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