International Institute of Sports Management Review By Aditya Shrivastav

IPL has paved the way for the sport industry in India as IPL today is the second most valued league in the world. I was into sports and after doing engineering, I knew that the job I will be doing, I am not meant for that. My dad was a journalist and he was into sports journalism, so he backed my decision of doing something related to sports. I checked various colleges like Inspiria Knowledge Campus, Symbiosis School of Sports Sciences and others. They all have two-year programs but I was in a hurry to get things done immediately. IISM Mumbai offers an 11 months sports management program and that too with guaranteed placements. Also, because my dad was a sports journalist, I was never in fear of a job. Also, Mumbai as they call it an ocean of opportunities, choosing this college, I knew will yield high dividends. The college has tie-ups with many national sports bodies while I was more interested in working for leagues. Even today, I work for a national team as a media handler but surely one day will be a part of the cash-rich IPL.

It is a management program at the end of the day and therefore reading case studies and making notes out of them like an MBA student does is what we did. However, because the sample size is small as the sport industry in India is a loss making one apart from Cricket and Badminton, it is indeed tough to make a mark in this field. However, I would like to thank our athletes for doing what they did at the Tokyo Olympics as Neeraj Chopra today is as famous as Virat Kohli. Also, the college just showed us the way because we were sent on interviews for internships without much training. The college had ensured that they would just teach the art of how sport business is managed and how one can make money out of it. The knowledge of the sports has to be there in students itself.

It was the first time when I studied under some foreign tutors because some of the faculties here were imported from US and Europe. The West are sports playing nations while in India, it is still a taboo thing. So, the faculties made it clear that we all have to make efforts and bring sports as a thing that can tie cement between people. I was surprised to know that those professors knew India that I didn’t.

IISM Mumbai Placements were good as BAI (Badminton Association of India), Rifle Association of India, and other sports bodies that are under central government have hired 90% of our batch as they need people who can market their sport and bring sponsors in. Some of the students were hired just as managers while some were made media handlers like me. I could have more money out of my engineering degree but I am happy with my job as I stay between some of the upcoming stars of tomorrow.

Well, the college doesn’t have a hostel facility and soon I came to know that in Mumbai not even 10% of the colleges have hostels. The college is in a location where finding a house was not at all difficult but affording the rent definitely was. So, for 10 months, I stayed in an apartment with three more students close to the college.

The college was built nicely as there was a recreational room, a locker room, and an auditorium just like the player’s meeting room. One would get a feel that they are into a sports academy as the auditorium had many guests from the world of sports. There was a playground too because students were asked to stay fit because even the coaches and managers had to be fit and keep their fitness levels in tandem with sports persons. A small gym was also built in the building and there we also used to have optional yoga sessions every alternate day. Well, on one hand the college wanted us to be fitter and then on the other hand, the canteen of the college used to drool our lips with lip smacking pastries which were irresistible. The infrastructure was great overall as one will never feel they are in a college but in a sports academy.

Well, meeting some of the biggest names in the sports industry like Shekhar Gupta, Shibani Dandekar, and others was a dream. They are all into sports writing or work as presenters. How sports work and what is the USP and how TRPs can be increased and all is all that was discussed the whole day. So, apart from talking about content, we hardly did anything inside the premises. In spare time, we also used to have the balls rolling at the recreational room.