BFI, IMG Reliance to create new basketball league in India

Harish Sharma, General Secretary, Basketball Federation of India (left) & Dr. Shanker Adawal, President Corporate Affairs, Reliance Industries signing an agreement between BFI and IMG-Reliance.

The Basketball Federation of India (BFI) has joined hands with IMG Reliance, a joint venture between IMG Worldwide and Reliance Industries, to develop basketball in India, from the grassroots to the professional level.

A press release from IMG Reliance said the initiative would significantly impact the competitive level of the spot ad enhance the pool of talent in the country.

As part of the agreement, BFI has granted IMG Reliance commercial rights relating to basketball in India, including sponsorship, advertising, broadcasting, merchandising, film, video and data, intellectual property, franchising and new league rights.

"The pinnacle of the agreement is expected to be the development of a professional basketball league in India in which players from around the globe will compete alongside Indian players, similar to the CBL in China," the release said.

It said an important element of the new initiative owuld be the development of world class infrastructure in India to support the effort, including the construction of new arenas and training facilities.

The release said that, in line with its focus on developing the game at the grassroots level, IMG Reliance would advise the BFI regarding the organization and management of school and college leagues throughout the country. This will create a platform to develop and augment the talent pool of young men and women, enhance their opportunities to compete internationally, and successfully represent India on the world stage.

IMG Worldwide and Reliance Industries had, earlier this year, created a joint venture in India, IMG Reliance Pvt. Ltd., to focus on unlocking the sporting potential, and create and operate major sporting and entertainment assets in the country. The association with BFI is IMG Reliance’s first significant initiative in this direction, the release said.

IMG Reliance also plans to establish sporting academies in India, modeled on the world renowned IMG Academies at Bradenton, Florida, to provide athlete and coach training in the country.

BFI is the governing and controlling body of basketball in India, “It is an important development in the history of basketball in the country. This is a giant step towards our stated vision of making basketball a much-watched and popular sport in the country. We are confident that IMG Reliance will play a significant part in realizing this vision with a comprehensive program, involving development of a loyal fan base, as well as development of talent at an early stage. We are working towards kicking off the leagues at the onset of the sporting calendar in the country,” Mr. Harish Sharma, General Secretary, BFI, said.

Mr Andrew Wildblood of IMG Reliance said the organisation would work to take basketball in India to the next level.

"IMG Reliance will leverage IMG’s unparalleled experience of developing sporting leagues and talent development to make basketball in India a commercially exciting sporting proposition with a large fan base. The convergence of sport and entertainment has been successfully demonstrated over the past several years in India. We strongly believe there is room for multiple commercially successful professional sports in India. We further believe that basketball has all the necessary ingredients to take a significant share of the growing professional sports market in the country and to have great appeal for the Indian consumer," he added.

NNN