iNM Volume 7 | Page 24

iNM Magazine Volume 7 | August 2015 Cover Story REDEFINING THE LANDSCAPE OF SPORTS IN INDIA Mohammed Sirajuddin 7Miles Event Management Pvt Ltd We began by launching the “Delhi Quarterathon”-A eme Based Community Run of 11.265 Kms. Delhi Quarterathon received a major boost when we were able to tie up with the Media Conglomerate, India Today Group for the second edition and organize the event in collaboration with them. e main objective of the Run was to create sensitivity about "Women Safety". e Run received tremendous response from the residents of Delhi. ousands of enthusiasts from all walks of life came together in this 'run for a cause'. e Event was graced with the presence of Legendry Runner Milkha Singh, nectar of inspiration and motivation, along with Honorable Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit, Shri Yoganand Shastri, Kiran Bedi and Naveen Jindal who came to support the cause and motivate the runners. e event was telecasted live on Headlines Today and received huge media mileage. India, has evolved as a Global Power. Economically, Politically and Militarily. We are the World's Youngest Nation with a population of over 1.2 Billion people. Yet when it comes to sports, we are still considered as a 'One Sport Nation'. In order to bring about a change we need to build a complete Eco System which means- Organizing several cutting edge sporting events at International, National and Regional level. Exponential evolution in ability to manage sporting events, change in grass root perception of sports as an Industry, Government Support, Active participation of the people. We have hosted Global Sporting Events such as Common Wealth Games, Formula One but they have been few and far in between hence there has been no radical shift in sporting environment of the country. In 2014, we plan to organize to spread Quarterathon to other Cities and also foray into other untapped domains such as Adventure Sports. Talking about the Revenue Streams, We have Media Rights, Sponsorships, Ticketing, Consulting etc. With this backdrop we (a team of 5 i.e. Santosh Kumar, Vikas Sharma, K.S.Sirish, Radhika Goel and I) founded “7Miles Event Management Pvt Ltd”- a Sports Management Start Up in 2012. ree of us had jumped onto the entrepreneurship bandwagon right out of college. Radhika had to quit in order to pursue higher studies but she still lends her support to the team. Hurdles Faced · Bureaucratic Hurdles - ere are around 17 regulatory approvals required to organize a public event. We also face other related problems. · Funding – e funding/investment scenario in the Sports Industry is not very evolved in India. · Finding first three paying clients and convincing