3rd season of Mahindra NBA Challenge launches in Delhi with Player Development Programme

The third season of the Mahindra NBA Challenge – the largest, multi-city, community-based basketball league in India – tipped off its New Delhi leg on March 16. Delhi is one of five cities where the league will be held this season, organised by the NBA, Mahindra, and the Basketball Federation of India (BFI).

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3rd Season of Mahindra NBA Challenge to tip off

MUMBAI: The third season of the Mahindra NBA Challenge – the largest, multi-city, community-based basketball league in India – will tip off Nov. 5 in Mumbai, the National Basketball Association (NBA), Mahindra, and the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) has jointly announced.

For the first time, the program will feature the Mahindra NBA Challenge National Finals. Winning teams from the senior 19+ and junior 16-18 divisions for both men and women in each city league will compete against each other to determine the National Finals winner. The program will visit five cities, including Kochi for the first time. Leagues also will be held in Bangalore, Delhi, Ludhiana, and Mumbai.

The programme has rapidly expanded since its introduction in 2009 with the number of teams participating doubling in season two. The program has helped to identify and develop top basketball talent, with the Indian national team extending training camp invites to 20 male and female players that participated in the Mahindra NBA Challenge.

The five-city league will feature four age divisions for both men and women: Sub-Junior for ages 12-13, Youth for ages 14-16, Junior for ages 16-18 and Adults ages 19 and over.

“Now in its third season, the Mahindra NBA Challenge has become a premiere platform to help identify and develop basketball talent at the grassroots level in India,” said Senior Director of Development for NBA India Akash Jain. “With the support of Mahindra, BFI, and all our partners, we are pleased to enhance the program with new elements, including the first-ever national finals, which will help further drive interest in our game.”

The Mahindra NBA Challenge not only involves competitive games, but also provides opportunities for skill development with more than 200 total player and coaching clinics conducted to date. Additionally, six different NBA All-Stars and NBA/WNBA Legends have traveled to India over the past two seasons to run clinics for participants.

“Over the past two years the Mahindra NBA Challenge has played an integral part in the growth of basketball in India,” said CEO of BFI Harish Sharma. “Along with the NBA and Mahindra, we are excited to offer Indian players more opportunities to perfect their skills and elevate their game.”

Indian Basketball: The Corporate Takeover

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In the last few months, first there was Mahindra teaming up with the NBA to promote the Mahindra-NBA Challenge. Then there was Reliance who teamed up with US-based sports marketing company IMG Worldwide to develop sports facilities and leagues in India. Now, with the appointment of United Phosphorus Limited (UPL) CEO Jaidev Shroff as the president of the Maharashtra State Basketball Association (MSBA), it seems that another large corporation has joined the race to profit through sports, and specifically, basketball.

The MSBA unanimously elected Shroff as president recently. Shroff has been supporting several sporting events in different fields for the past 15 years. This will be a crucial time for Shroff to take over the MSBA helm as basketball is growing at an unprecendent rate in Maharashtra and in Mumbai (which was crowned as India's Basketball City on this site).

Shroff has a corporate background, and the UPL has been supporting two annual basketball tournaments in Mumbai - the Ramu Memorial Tournament and the Savio Cup.

From SportzPower.com:

Commenting on this situation, MSBA Secretary M Venkatesh, said, “Maharashtra has been a strong hub for basketball. With the National Basketball Association (NBA) lending its might in promoting the game, the MSBA is eager to utilise this opportunity to further strengthen the game. The Association will focus on the grass root level, increase the participation of athletes as well as train talented players to increase the overall standard of the game in Maharashtra.”
Laying down his vision, Shroff said, “The responsibility is huge, but I'm sure I will get the complete support from all office bearers to promote basketball.”

Shroff stated that the involvement of corporate houses in the decision-making process of sports administration is good news for Indian sports and would take it to a new horizon. "The UPL Group has always supported the sports in India by offering scholarships to deserving students and we will continue to do so in the future."

One of the future (perhaps exciting) plans for the UPL with the MSBA is to introduce the 'Hoop-A-Loop League' - not really sure what it is, but it will be played in the weekends in Mumbai.

Led by the commercially super-succesful IPL, India seems to have truly woken up to the business of sport. I'll quote Abhaya Srivastava from his recent article on this growing phenomenon: "For many the success of the IPL was a symbol of the new India -- an emerging economic powerhouse, pumped up with self-confidence and aspiring to assert itself in the global arena." Srivastava goes on to say that allegations of corruption, money laundering and tax evasion in the IPL have tarnished the sports/business relationship a little bit, but I don't believe that it is enough to stop this expanding snowball. The IPL will survive the scandal and continue successfully, and from the looks of it, other corporations will continue to see green in sports, too.

Has the time truly arrived for India to take sports seriously? When I say 'seriously', I mean in the only way that really matters for a sport's promotion, through money. Mahindra, Reliance, UPL... these are all big companies with big money to potentially invest in basketball. Forget about our socialist beginnings, India is now an uber-capitalist country where to really make it you have to make it by yourself. No government is going to be there to hold your hand through it. I have been a staunch believer that success stories in India have really come despite the government, and this belief holds in the case of basketball, too.

There is of course the ugly, annoying negative side. We have all seen it happen with the IPL. Advertisements during ball breaks, commercial breaks interrupting crucial replays, a six being called a DLF-Maximum and (well respected) commentators being obliged to mention the MRF-blimp every chance they get. It's tragic to see when celebrities are celebrated more than cricketers. Capitalism in sport is a double-edged sword, because if corporates decide to sell-out basketball the same way they did with T-20 cricket it would popularise the game to a wider audience but simultaneously take the focus and soul away from the game itself.

There needs to be a sensitive balance between commercialisation and maintaining the soul of the game, and the next few years could be very telling in the growth of basketball in India.

Do you agree with Shroff? Is the involvement of corporate houses in the decision making of sports, and in our particular case, basketball, a good move for Indian sports?

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Reliance and IMG to develop sports facilities and league in India

Closely following on the news that the Mahindra Group will be partnering the NBA to launch a recreational basketball league in three Indian cities, here's another corporate venture in expanding sports not named "cricket" in India: Reliance Industries, led by India's wealthiest Mukesh Ambani is partnering with US-based sports marketing company IMG Worldwide in a joint venture to build sports facilities in India.

IMG-Reliance will also develop professional basketball and football leagues in India, nurture young talent at the academies, and train coaches in these sports as well.

From the Business Standard:

The new company, IMG Reliance, would set up sports facilities across the country to train athletes, thus developing the sports market. The model would be similar to the one followed in mature sports and entertainment markets such as the US. The companies plan to create and operate major sports and entertainment assets.
Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director, Reliance Industries, said: "Development of sports and the sporting culture is a social imperative for India in the 21st century. World-class infrastructure, frugal engineering, technology and scientific coaching are an integral part of development of today's sporting talent globally."

Plans are underway to create an agency to offer 360-degree sports management to celebrities from the world of sports, Bollywood and fashion. IMG would transfer its existing business and assets in the country to the joint venture. These include the Aircel Chennai Open, the Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour event and Lakmé Fashion Week.
However, the ongoing Indian Premier League would stay with IMG and the company's international business and executive team is to manage it.
Ted Forstmann, chairman and CEO of IMG, said: "The performance of Indian athletes on the national and international stage will improve dramatically with the correct development strategies. As a consequence, the commercial performance of sport and entertainment in India will be enhanced."

To quote an article from the The Wall Street Journal, IMG owner Ted Forstmann said that "the venture's ambitions are to create something akin to England's Premier League, for which IMG produces and distributes television programming... People might laugh at that now, but let's see where we are in five years"

The real potential profits from the venture will come from the development of professional sports leagues. The IMG-Reliance venture will look to strike arrangements with India's soccer and basketball federations to help them build these leagues.

Wow. I don't mean neccessarily good wow or bad wow... Just.. Wow...

It's all really happening now isn't it? When the richest Indian company and one of the most succesful sports management companies from the USA get involved in helping to build facilities and a basketball league in India, you know it's more than just empty words.


I've always believed that India's sporting success has always come despite the government. Despite the public sector. So, while the BFI plans and contemplates and slowly trudges towards starting a pro basketball league in the country, here come Ambani and Forstmann with a lot more money and a lot more vampire fangs to suck into the growing Indian athletic juices. Their proposed basketball and football leagues will not be too different in terms of the commercial standpoint from Lalit Modi's IPL T-20 Cricket league. Purists may completely disregard what the IPL and T-20 have done to the game, but there is no denying that now being a professional cricketer is an exciting and possible option for a lot more Indians than before.

This could turn out well for basketball in India. Better facilities, better training, more money, more talent, better teams, more fans, more merchandise... More basketball.

On the other side, it could all go bonkers... If the soul of the game itself is disregarded. Money may be able to buy a lot of things, but it'll be interesting to see how they manage to buy fans for the game in India. It's not impossible, for basketball and football are very easily likable sports, and are already two of the fastest growing sports in the country. I just hope that, like T-20 threatened to butcher what purists called "real cricket", this league doesn't butcher the game of basketball itself.

Get ready for the Mahindra-NBA recreational league

Here's great news if you are a baller in Ludhiana, Bangalore, or Mumbai. Or a fan of the NBA. Or capitalism. A day after BFI General Secretary Harish Sharma spoke to me about the possibility of a pro basketball league in India, the NBA and industrial conglomerate Mahindra Group announced a partnership to launch a new multi-city community-based recreational basketball league in those three cities.

The league will be called the Mahindra NBA Challenge, and will run for seven weeks every year in two divisions: Youth division - ages 14-17; Adult division - 18 and above. The league will comprise of co-ed teams. The Basketball Federation of India (BFI) will be working with the NBA to implement and oversee league operations.

The league will tip off on April 17th at the St. Dominic Savio and Mustan YMCA courts in Mumbai. Individuals and teams will be allowed to register beforehand by visiting the NBA-India website. Over the seven weeks, each team will play each other in one game a week (that's it?!), and the best teams will play in a "postseason" knock-out tournament at the end of the regular season in each city.

Here's more info and quotes from NBA.com/India:

The Mahindra NBA Challenge will provide basketball enthusiasts and newcomers to the game the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of the game and apply their skills in a fun, competitive environment.
“We are delighted to be partnering with the NBA to create a multi-city recreational league in India,” said Anand Mahindra, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Mahindra Group. “In a cricket loving nation such as India, we feel it is important to encourage other sports as well and we believe basketball is perfectly suited to bring communities together and promote healthy, active lifestyles to Indian youth.”

“Mahindra is the perfect partner for the creation of a new recreational basketball league for Indian fans,” said NBA Commissioner David Stern. “The BFI, Mahindra and the NBA share a long-term commitment to growing the game in India and to using the values of our game to make a positive, lasting impact in Indian communities.”
“Basketball continues to grow in popularity across India and now youngsters in Bangalore, Ludhiana and Mumbai will have the opportunity to play in an organized league and further develop their skills,” said Harish Sharma, Secretary General of BFI. “The launch by Basketball Federation of India and the NBA of the Mahindra NBA Challenge is very exciting and will help accelerate the basketball development of Indian youngsters.”

What does it mean for basketball in India? Well, a mini-recreational league may not be the ideal solution for promoting love for basketball here, but at least it's a start. With the NBA lending its name, the league definitely has the backbone to create enough of an interested niche amongst fans and ballers.

What is more important is if the league is succesful in garnering media/fan/player attention, that the BFI continues with its plans to start official school/college leagues with more than 'recreational' incentive. These efforts will eventually pave the way for a pro basketball league in India that will replace the current service-team/tournament system.

On a side note: one of the three cities where this league will be launched is Ludhiana. Really? I've been to Ludhiana - my sister-in-law's from Ludhiana. It's alright, but was it really one of the three choices for an NBA-backed recreational basketball league? Not for basketball reasons, it wasn't - but Ludhiana does happen to have one of the fastest growing economies in the country. I'm not saying that there aren't basketball/NBA fans in Ludhiana - it is just less compared to a whole host of other (bigger) cities in India. Ludhiana is less of a basketball city and more of a Mercedes city (look it up - residents of 'Ludsville' are Merc-fiends). Forgive me if I now quote the Wu-Tang Clan to describe the real reason for NBA/Mahindra to look here: "Cash Rule Everything Around Me, C.R.E.A.M., Get the Money!"

Also, didn't anyone tell the NBA that Bangalore is now Bengaluru (still sounds wierd to me)? Someone release the Ram Sene on David Stern already!

In the end though, in India, any basketball news is good basketball news. I'm excited about this venture and hope that it spreads to more cities - New Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, and others.