Jalaj Dani Calls On Corporate India To 'Own' Sport, Not Just Sponsor It
· Free Press Journal
Jalaj Dani, President, SPORTSCOM, called for a fundamental shift in the way Corporate India engages with Indian sport, urging businesses to move beyond sponsorships and take long-term ownership of sporting properties, institutions and talent development. Speaking at IAMGAME 2026, Dani argued that while India has built one of the world’s most commercially successful sporting properties in the IPL, the country continues to struggle to build the institutional foundations required to become a true sporting nation.
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Pointing to the contrast between the IPL’s estimated $20 billion valuation and India’s six medals at the Paris Olympics, Dani said the numbers highlight a fundamental gap in India’s sporting ecosystem. “We are at the same time the most brilliant sponsorship market in the history of sport and one of the weakest institution builders,” he said, arguing that Corporate India has traditionally treated sport as something to “rent” through jerseys, athlete endorsements and associations with established winners.
Dani drew a distinction between sponsorship and ownership, saying: “A sponsor asks, what can this sport do for my brand? An owner asks, what can my institution do for this sport?” He argued that sponsorship is necessary but insufficient, as lasting sporting ecosystems require investment in academies, coaching, talent identification, sports science and institutions that can develop athletes before they become champions.
Using Japan as an example, Dani highlighted how corporations have historically played a deeper role in building sporting institutions, while pointing to his own experience of investing in and building properties such as Ultimate Table Tennis and Chennaiyin FC. He said the decision to invest in sports that did not already have a large audience was deliberate: “If we want to build India and become a sporting nation, we cannot only invest where the audience already exists. We have to build the audience, build the institutions and give athletes a platform to grow.”
Dani proposed an ambitious vision in which India’s 100 largest corporations could each adopt a sport as a long-term institutional commitment, spanning disciplines such as hockey, football, wrestling, boxing, badminton, swimming, archery and para-sport. Such investments, he said, could create academies, specialist coaching, grassroots talent identification and high-performance systems over the next decade.
He also emphasised the role of Corporate India in creating a pathway for talent identified through national and grassroots programmes. With the government focusing on identifying sporting talent among children aged 5–15, Dani argued that the next challenge is creating institutions capable of nurturing that talent. “For every Chopra they celebrate, there are 10,000 children with the same gift who were never found,” he said, attributing the gap not to a lack of talent but to a lack of institutions capable of identifying and developing it.
Dani further argued that emerging technologies could transform these sporting institutions, with AI-driven performance analytics, wearable biometrics and advanced sports science integrated into corporate-owned academies. He said the long-term opportunity extends beyond medals, with India’s sports economy projected in his address to reach $130 billion by 2030 and potentially create millions of jobs.
Making the business case for ownership, Dani said sporting institutions can create value through intellectual property, employment, community engagement, brand identity and long-term relationships rather than short-term visibility. “This is not philanthropy. It is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the economy,” he said.
Dani concluded by linking the urgency of building sporting institutions to India’s ambitions for 2047 and its Olympic aspirations, noting that institutions take 10–15 years to mature. His central message was that India already has the money and talent required to build a sporting nation; what needs to change is the mindset of Corporate India.
“Stop asking what sport can do for your brand this season. Start asking what your institution can leave behind for a child who has not been born yet,” Dani said. “Do not put your logo on the jersey. Build the institution that produces the player who earns the right to wear it.”