Sports Infrastructure – The Driver for the Sports Industry

Preamble & Rationale

It is said that “you are as young as your spine is flexible.” Such is the nature of the beast, and such is the nature of infrastructure. The more flexible, the younger it stays, the more vibrancy it creates and the more it strengthens the social fabric of the community. It brings people together, to learn to lose together, win together and let that emotion come to the fore.

Sport is for recreation, sport is for fitness, sport is for competition and sport is entertainment. But the real euphoria that sport generates only comes forth when it’s packaged well and therefore the tri-trac approach is a must – the players, the fans, and the broadcasters must be at the center of the planning process.

India has 98 stadia, which are above 20000 in capacity. So if we take an average area given to each of these facilities to be 20 acres, then 2000 acres of prime land is allocated to sport. This figure, in reality, is at least 50 times higher. The stand-alone value of this is unfathomable.

But – none of them built correctly or flexibly. None of them contribute to sports development. None of them has adhered to the tri-trac approach. Imagine the fun of a Times Square New York with all of this in every major urban area of India.

At TransStadia we have studied this gap in India, and believe there is an opportunity to make each and every facility a vibrant city center and not leave them as traditional white elephants. To put our money where our belief stands – I have great pleasure in introducing to you The Arena by TransStadia at Ahmedabad. This project is India’s first true PPP in Sports Infrastructure. At the time of Shri Narendra Modi as the Chief Minister of Gujarat, he believed in the presentation that sport can only grow with public and private collaboration. This project envisages that 7 stadia alone are built in Gujarat on a hub and spoke model to catalyze sports development through competition, talent nurturing and infrastructure development. This project uses world-class technology for stand convertibility from StadiArena UK, and seat retractability by T-Box, both patented technologies. This ensures that on a small piece of land, the project that accommodates 1.4 mio. sq. ft. of constructed area, can be used for sport, entertainment, wellness, hospitality, retail and more. At the press of a button, a part of the outdoor stadium converts into an indoor arena within 6 minutes.

The project has been built with all green building standards of power saving, smart water and power utilization, fire safety, rainwater harvesting and more. The project has been built with 7.75 mio construction man-hours. It has 44 km of electrical cabling and 14 km of wifi cabling. It has 200000 sq ft of landscaped areas. Recently, on Oct 2nd the project was launched after 31 months of construction, with the first ever Pro-Kabaddi style Kabaddi World Cup 2016. The event saw participation from all Olympic continents represented by 12 nations who participated for 15 days at this one venue that offered the fans the best experience at the edge of the seat. The event was broadcasted across 120 countries through the Star Network.

TransStadia has ensured that through this model not only will sport infrastructure develop, but also the culture of sport will develop alongside that. This model will ensure sport no longer will be only a CSR activity depending on the subjective largesse of patron and will transform it into an industry.

Building sustainably is extremely important and the concept of sustainability is something that is needed in a developing economy like India. With the refinement in solar tech, it’s possible to power non-event operations through this method. Further to that mist fire-fighting systems should be used everywhere as opposed to traditional methods; this would save a lot of water. Between ensuring intelligent switch systems, power generation, water treatment and circulation, stadia can be extremely efficient. We have taken sustainability to a deeper meaning in Ahmedabad. We have also ensured as much of local procurement and employment to benefit the state.

As the project now has gone into operations, as responsible PPP partners, we have ensured that while we have strong commercial commitments, we live up to our social commitments of training local athletes, provide local sport an upliftment and take the programs to local schools and colleges of the government.

Taking it a step further, TransStadia has written to all the sports stakeholders of the state to come and be part of this project and use it for the training of elite athletes as well as for state, national and international competitions. We are encouraging as much athlete development as possible and are collaborating with the local sports authority of the state to streamline working such that it’s synchronized and efforts are not duplicated.

The government must recognize that it’s time to open this sector like it did with the airport modernization sector, where parking fees are now a mere 35% of the total revenues. Sports infrastructure provides one such opportunity to build a multi-billion-dollar industry. There is a need to incentivize the private sector to come and be a part of this story, catalyze this change and drive it.

We certainly know the time to galvanize sport through viable and well-planned sports infrastructure is done in India. We believe India’s urban spaces can accommodate world class arena’s that allow the communities to bring a work life balance and pursue a fit yet entertained lifestyle. We imagine an India that like The United State/ Europe can have a major Arena or even two across all cities. Sports leagues can have home teams and home bases that are spectator and fan friendly and such that broadcasters are at ease and players aspire to play there. We believe the time has come to use the tri-trac approach and transform city centers in activity hubs, into smart downtowns. It’s time to shed the old skin and emerge with a new form, with new infrastructure that has great planning, high utilization, and sustainable philosophies. Such projects will not only transform the way India consumes sportainment but will also build a nation that is young and confident. That takes pride in its sport – because wars no longer are fought on the battlefield, but are now on the turf. For India to win, India needs a spine – therefore the backbone of the sport industry has to be built. “I believe, build it & they will come”.

Objectives

1. To build Asia’s largest Sports Infrastructure Company with a strong focus on sport, leisure, and wellness.
2. Build at least 12 to 15 world-class infra in all major urban areas in the next 3 to 5 years, with patented technology for high utilization.
3. Each facility will accommodate 12 to 15 sports and use convertible and transformable technology for high utilization (utilization jumped from the current 2% to 67% per annum).
4. Ensure that each and every facility is transformed into a vibrant city center
5. Each and every facility is a green facility.
6. To generate local employment directly and indirectly while introducing the concept of sustainability and skills.
7. To generate revenue; thus part of it can be ploughed back into sports development (e.g. 2% of top line revenue share can be ploughed back); plus tax-free development if the money is through CSR route. Further
8. Ensure that all levels of sport are developed:
a. Grassroots
b. Intermediate: at schools & college
c. Elite
9. Develop the important aspects of sports such as sports sciences, sports management, media, high performance, and academies.

Conclusion

The project of this nature should be encouraged as it will bring the Private & Public sectors together to transform an often neglected part of Indian society, which goes a long way in the building of:

1. National Pride
2. Social Fabric
3. Young & Confident Nation
4. Creation of a National Health & Fitness Index
5. Positive impact on the Health parameters of the country
6. Develop an industry that globally contributes to more than 2% of most developed nations GDPs.

It is said, “Everything comes to us that belongs to us if we create the capacity to receive it.” – Rabindranath Tagore. We have the capability and the capacity. Let’s build it.

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