US Trip – Education versus Explanation


I’m currently on a flight heading home to Mumbai and reflecting upon my extraordinary two weeks in the United States. Since moving to India in 2009, I’ve had the opportunity to travel back to the states for business on many occasions, however this trip was different, this trip was focused more on Indian sports industry education versus explanation.  I’ll explain. 

Over the past 10 years, I’ve conducted no less than 500 meetings with United States based sports, media and entertainment organizations to let them know about opportunities within the Indian sports landscape. I would present the numbers, walk them through the unique case studies and share a general overview of opportunities within the industry. During those meetings, my primary objective was to plant a seed that the time is now to start taking the Indian sports market seriously and, more times than not, the seed was successfully planted.

But as I said this trip was completely different. The theme was ‘education’ and this was reflected throughout almost every external interaction I had in the states. I planned the trip this way as I felt that the time was right to let the next generation of sports industry leaders in the West understand and learn from the East.  Honestly, for the first time since I moved to India, I can confidently say that there is enough substance of activities going on in the sub-continent which would not only interest American youth, but actually have them explore taking actions that they’ve never thought about before. 

I started in California delivering Indian Sports Landscape presentations at Cal State Fullerton, University of San Francisco (Orange County & San Francisco campuses) and San Diego State.  During those 4 days, I would have interacted with over 100 post graduate Sports Management students and was blown away by their insightful questions and post session follow ups requesting more information. Also, there was something extra special about the fact that I was delivering these lectures in my home state – the place where I lived for 22 years at a time in my life when I was running away from being Indian. Hence, the thought of me completing a 3-hour interactive session on Indian sports and then driving down the 405 freeway to my Parents’ house and sharing my experience with them was slightly surreal for all involved.    

The next phase took place across the country on the campus of the #1 Sports Management program in the world, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. After a 6 hour bus journey from New York Port Authority, I finally arrived at the UMass campus on a frigid Tuesday afternoon. I had about 15 minutes of downtime, and then conducted my first session with the McCormack Department of Sports Management Faculty. I had the opportunity to ‘educate’ this rockstar team of PhDs about the Indian sports landscape and guide the session preparation involved with their upcoming teaching trips to India.  I was then whisked away to a classroom where I delivered an Indian sports landscape presentation to a room filled with incoming UMass MBA students. 

The next day, McCormack Center for Sports Research & Education Director, Will Norton, and I drove down to New York City and spent the day with the international teams from the NFL and MLS to explore joint student project opportunities for these powerhouse leagues.  These were fascinating conversations as it almost felt that the league representatives were more transparent about their organizations’ international objectives knowing that it was a visit to discuss educational opportunities versus business development. 

I’m sharing a few insights which became clear during the trip:

  • There is so much that the West can learn from the East when it comes to developing & managing sport in a dynamic environment – we must study this further
  • My story of working professionally in the US for 7 years and now in India for 10 years garners unique credibility when I’m standing in front of a group of aspiring sports professionals
  • It’s so important for anyone who has worked in industry for 10 years or more to include a personal passion component into their teaching (i.e. Magic Formula) – it makes a difference 
  • The vibe and energy one can experience while on a US University campus is extraordinary
  • While one has the unique opportunity to deliver a Guest Lecture, especially in front of students, it’s best to share openly and authentically – some will clap, some will laugh and some will never be the same again 

That's it for now. I'm really enjoying the educational space as it just feels natural at this stage in my career. Here are some pictures from the trip. 











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