A few years back, big European clubs playing in India would have been only a fantasy for the country's football lovers. But not anymore. Lots of Premier League clubs are seeing the subcontinent, mainly India, as a huge market. We have already seen Bayern Munich and Argentina play their respective matches here and English clubs are also exploring their options in the cricket-crazy nation.
After a successful first season of the Indian Super League (ISL), many English Premier League (EPL) club officials stated that India could be a huge market for them for the pre-season friendlies. A top official from Sunderland earlier in the year had already said that considering the fan base in Asia - particularly India, EPL clubs will surely love to give it a try and play their friendlies in the country.
"There's a big fan base for EPL clubs here and we have seen how ISL has got huge response here. I think the country has a huge potential. Pre-season friendlies can be the way forward if we have the right kind of infrastructure," head coach of Sunderland Association Football Club, Graham Robinson, told reporters earlier this year during his visit to the country.
There were reports in December last year that Arsenal might be interested in playing friendlies in India, although the plan did not work and the club chose Singapore for pre-season; however, the interest was very genuine. Former Arsenal stars Robert Pires and Freddie Ljungberg, who now are playing in the ISL for FC Goa and Mumbai City, have already gone on record saying that they would love to see Arsenal play friendlies here.
Although the team could not visit for a pre-season game, the club made sure that their fans were not left disappointed. They made sure their fans get a feel of Arsenal Football club when they along, with PUMA, launched the new 2015-16 home and away kits exclusively in Mumbai with the help of club legends Sol Campbell and Ray Parlour. More than 2000 supporters attended the event and it was surely a big, big hit.
Campbell was quite happily surprised by the response of the fans and said he hopes the club sees that and soon the Arsenal team visits India in the pre-season.
"The response was outstanding. Honestly speaking, I never thought I will see around 2000 fans for a football event in a cricket crazy nation - but the response was terrific. I am hoping that people at Arsenal see this response and hopefully we shall see Gunners playing in India for pre-season games," Campbell told IBNLive.
Same has been the case with Manchester United. During their promotional programme in India, Man United officials were enthusiastic of their fan base in India. The likes of Mikel Silvestre, Quinton Fortune and Dwight Yorke have travelled to India regularly for the promotion of the club and interacting with the fans.
The Red Devils sensationally boasted the figure of almost around 35 million Man United fans only in India and are looking forward to have more and more commercial partnerships in the country. But despite having the largest fan base in India in comparison to other European clubs, United were not willing to have pre-season friendlies as of now but did not rule out future opportunities.
"We can't predict this at the moment. July in India is very hot and it's not favourable for players to have pre-season games in the country in this month. We have lots of followers in the country, so it is surely worth considering but at the moment there are no plans for pre-season games yet," Phil Townsend, United's Director of Communication and Deputy Chairman of Man United Foundation, told IBNLive.
ISL has already entered into a strategic partnership with the EPL to bring its best practices to India under an exchange programme. That is the step which will surely help both Indian football and the popularity of EPL clubs in India as well. Through this alliance, the ISL will help the Premier League and its clubs in staging football matches and assist in other business development initiatives in India.
Why India?
Big clubs such as Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal have already started building their brand in India through various partnerships. For example, United already have held many scholarships progarammes in the country that have helped youngsters train the 'Man United way.' They have made sure the winner travelled to Old Trafford to join a week-long residential training camp with Manchester United Soccer Schools in the UK. On the other hand, Liverpool have a youth academy in Pune, while Arsenal have multiple training centers in New Delhi, Karnataka and Maharashtra.
"Internationalization is becoming more and more important for clubs across the top leagues in Europe as locally generating sponsorship and gaining new fans is difficult; therefore, more and more clubs are venturing to foreign shore."
"The EPL, due to historical ties, has a special connect with India and the clubs are testing waters to see what the market has to offer to them as elsewhere the top clubs from the Top 5 European leagues (England, Germany, Spain, Italy, France) are dividing the markets amongst themselves like North America, Australia, China, Japan and Southeast Asia," football expert Arunava Chaudhuri told IBNLive.
"India is the final frontier and the big clubs are so aggressive in their approach elsewhere, leaving little space for even smaller EPL clubs to operate in the markets. In India for the moment at least it is different, despite Man Utd, Chelsea, Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool doing their activations and events. Therefore, clubs like West Brom, Crystal Palace and Leicester are testing the market, especially around the BPL Live event in December, 2014, in Mumbai," he added.
When asked about whether it will help Indian football in the future, Chaudhuri said, "India and Indian football have to use it to their own needs, which is rarely happening at the moment. Often these are sponsorship driven activations or PR promotions, which have no real value for Indian football. It is rather about fan engagement and interactions, which can generate revenues for the clubs.
"So although at the moment it is just the beginning, India should make sure they use this popularity from the footballing point of view as well."
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