Beyond The Field: Inside India's Sports Industry

What's one way to keep your fans engaged?
As Kailash says, win the championships!

In this episode, Nadeem speaks with Kailash Kandpal, CEO of Puneri Paltan, the winning team of the 10th season of the Pro Kabaddi League. 

They discuss sponsorships, scouting new players, hilarious anecdotes from the field, and the tons of opportunities in Kabaddi for anyone who loves sports!

Tune in!

Kailash Kandpal is the CEO of Insurekot Sports. He manages the complete P&L of the sporting venture of the Kotak family. LinkedIn: https://in.linkedin.com/in/kailash-kandpal-6745a04

'Beyond The Field' is a podcast where we give you an all-access pass to the business side of sports and decode India’s multi-billion-dollar sports industry.

Nadeem Sheikh is a sports professional with 6 years of experience who turned his passion into a profession. He has worked with multiple companies in the sports industry like KheloFantasy, CricketGraph, and YouTooCanRun. LinkedIn - / nadeemsheikh

Creative Supervisor: Aishwarya Javalgekar
Producer: Shreya Ahlawat

Brought to you by Bound, a company that helps you grow through stories.

Website: https://boundindia.com/

LinkedIn - / boundindia

Instagram -...

What's common in being an entrepreneur and a triathlete? Dedication, perseverance, and a never-say-no attitude. 
In this week's episode, Nadeem sits down with Jitendra Joshi,  a sports entrepreneur and a triathlete with over 25 years of experience. 
They unpack what it takes to build sports companies from the ground up, the infrastructure in India, and how to make the nation more 'sporty'.

Whether you're preparing for a marathon or want to build your own business, this episode has everything you need!

Jitendra Joshi is a sports entrepreneur and a triathlete with over 25 years of experience. He has been building sports companies since 2003 – Sportz Village, SportzConsult and now Corcom. SportzConsult’s contribution in the field of sports development earned him the prestigious PRCI’s Chanakya Award for ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ in 2017. 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jitu1701/

'Beyond The Field' is a podcast where we give you an all-access pass to the business side of sports and decode India’s multi-billion-dollar sports industry.

Nadeem Sheikh is a sports professional with 6 years of experience who turned his passion into a profession. He has worked with multiple companies in the sports industry like KheloFantasy, CricketGraph, and YouTooCanRun. LinkedIn - / nadeemsheikh

Creative Supervisor: Aishwarya Javalgekar
Producer: Shreya Ahlawat

Brought to you by Bound, a company that helps you grow through stories.

Website: https://boundindia.com/

LinkedIn - / boundindia

Instagram -...

Meet the "sports nerd" who went from watching Tom Cruise play a sports agent to being the CEO of Mumbai City Football Club!

In this episode, Nadeem speaks with Indranil Das Blah, Vice President at Reliance Sports. With 22 years of experience under his belt, Indranil talks about moving to Delhi to try professional sports and realizing he wasn't "good enough", getting his first job by being a sports nerd and the best parts about leading Mumbai City FC. 
He also gives us the inside scoop on how the industry leverages an athlete's personal branding- from Sachin Tendulkar's 'lovable boy' persona, Virat Kohli's 'aggressive Delhi boy' image to Sania Mirza's 'good girls don't make history' branding!

Tune in!

Indranil Das Blah is a Sports Industry Professional with over 22 years of experience. He was the Vice President - Sports at Reliance Sports. He was the Founding Partner of Kwan Entertainment and Marketing Solutions. He was CEO - Mumbai City FC. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/indranil-das-blah-b749832/

'Beyond The Field' is a podcast where we give you an all-access pass to the business side of sports and decode India’s multi-billion-dollar sports industry.

Nadeem Sheikh is a sports professional with 6 years of experience who turned his passion into a profession. He has worked with multiple companies in the sports industry like KheloFantasy, CricketGraph, and YouTooCanRun. LinkedIn - / nadeemsheikh

Creative Supervisor: Aishwarya Javalgekar
Producer: Shreya Ahlawat

Brought to you by Bound, a company that helps you grow through stories.

Website: https://boundindia.com/

LinkedIn - / boundindia

Instagram -...

How do you cold-call your way into your dream job in sports? 
Find out from Neel Shah, who's worked in sports management across India and the US!
 
In this episode, Nadeem talks to Neel about his journey from being the director of fan development of the Major League Soccer to being the Associate Dean at the Global Institute of Sports Business.

Neel talks about feeling like he belonged only when he played football, and how telling the receptionist his life story led him to working with MLS!

Neel Shah is currently the Head of Sports Education at India On Track, a leading sports agency focused on creating impactful sports properties, partnerships and programmes across India and beyond. He is the Associate Dean at the Global Institute of Sports Business, a certified life coach and published author of two books. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neel-shah-63b3843/

'Beyond The Field' is a podcast where we give you an all-access pass to the business side of sports and decode India’s multi-billion-dollar sports industry.

Nadeem Sheikh is a sports professional with 6 years of experience who turned his passion into a profession. He has worked with multiple companies in the sports industry like KheloFantasy, CricketGraph, and YouTooCanRun. LinkedIn - / nadeemsheikh

Creative Supervisor: Aishwarya Javalgekar
Producer: Shreya Ahlawat

Brought to you by Bound, a company that helps you grow through stories.

Website: https://boundindia.com/

LinkedIn - / boundindia

Instagram -...

How do we bridge the gap between grassroots sports and elite sports?

In this episode, Nadeem talks to Siddarth Sabapathy about kicking off football from the community level to making the Vile Parle Premier League a league of their own! 

Siddarth is a sports strategist and co-founder of Sporko- a sports management company that develops and promotes sports at the grassroots level. He talks about being the General Manager of Ahmedabad Defenders- the team that represented India for the first time at the international club volleyball level, the untapped potential of grassroots sports, and why the backstage is completely different from the mainstream glamor of the sports industry!

Tune in to learn more!

Siddarth Sabapathy
General Manager- Ahmedabad Defenders, Co-Founder- Sporko 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/siddarth-sabapathy-b6000955/
https://www.instagram.com/sidwin22/?hl=en 

'Beyond The Field' is a podcast where we give you an all-access pass to the business side of sports and decode India’s multi-billion-dollar sports industry.

Nadeem Sheikh is a sports professional with 6 years of experience who turned his passion into a profession. He has worked with multiple companies in the sports industry like KheloFantasy, CricketGraph, and YouTooCanRun. LinkedIn - / nadeemsheikh

Creative Supervisor: Aishwarya Javalgekar
Producer: Shreya Ahlawat

Brought to you by Bound, a company that helps you grow through stories.

Website: https://boundindia.com/

LinkedIn - / boundindia

Instagram -...

Here's why you should run for your life!
Nadeem talks to P. Venkatraman, Founder of YouTooCanRun, about all the reasons why running is the mother of all sports. They unpack how running became a 700-crore industry with over 1600 events across the country.
Mr Venkatraman is a US-certified race director and running coach, with two Guinness World Records to his credit. He has also organized running events with over 73k runners- bigger than the Mumbai marathon. In this episode, they discuss what motivates people to run, training a war veteran and bypass surgery patients (The Zippers Club), and why no one gets left behind in running!

Why is running a lifestyle? What would happen if everybody ran?
Tune in to find out!

P. Venkatraman,  Founder, YouTooCanRun
https://www.linkedin.com/in/venkatp/
https://www.instagram.com/p.venkatraman/?hl=en 

'Beyond The Field' is a podcast where we give you an all-access pass to the business side of sports and decode India’s multi-billion-dollar sports industry.

Nadeem Sheikh is a sports professional with 6 years of experience who turned his passion into a profession. He has worked with multiple companies in the sports industry like KheloFantasy, CricketGraph, and YouTooCanRun. LinkedIn - / nadeemsheikh

Creative Supervisor: Aishwarya Javalgekar
Producer: Shreya Ahlawat

Brought to you by Bound, a company that helps you grow through stories.

Website: https://boundindia.com/

LinkedIn - / boundindia

Instagram -...

Does playing games for hours make you a professional athlete? 

In this episode, Nadeem speaks to Jaikishan Malik and Varun Gavankar about the evolution of Esports and how the million-dollar industry had its humble origins in two PC games- Warcraft and Counter-Strike 1.6. 

Jaikishan- Alliance and Partnership Manager and Varun- Digital and Content Manager- are avid esports enthusiasts working at Esportz- a fan engagement and gaming experience platform.

They discuss how India finally recognized Esports as a sport, how much it contributes to the sports economy, and how esports players can earn enough to own a Mustang! From gaming continuously for hours to travelling for gaming events, and participating in competitive tournaments; here's why esports are just as nerve-wracking and exciting as traditional sports! 

Jaikishan Malik, Manager- Alliances and Partnership at GIGWORK, Esport athlete https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaikishan-malik-5916a2160/ 

Varun Gavankar, Manager- Digital and Content at GIGWORK https://www.linkedin.com/in/varundown/ 

'Beyond The Field' is a podcast where we give you an all-access pass to the business side of sports and decode India’s multi-billion-dollar sports industry.

Nadeem Sheikh is a sports professional with 6 years of experience who turned his passion into a profession. He has worked with multiple companies in the sports industry like KheloFantasy, CricketGraph, and YouTooCanRun. LinkedIn - / nadeemsheikh

Creative Supervisor: Aishwarya Javalgekar
Producer: Shreya Ahlawat

Brought to you by Bound, a company that helps you grow through stories.

Website: https://boundindia.com/

LinkedIn - / boundindia

Instagram -...

From predictors and polls to visual play-by-plays, find out how sports is more of an experience than ever!

In this episode, Nadeems talks to Chintan Shah, Director of Content Management at Sportz Interactive- a digital media agency aimed at revolutionizing the fan experience of sports.
They discuss how interactive content can reimagine fan engagement and create a narrative for sports, the future of sports content management, and the challenges of keeping fans engaged during off-seasons. With technology like fantasy gaming, video graphics, data visualization and more, welcome to "experiencing" sports like never before!

'Beyond The Field' is a podcast where we give you an all-access pass to the business side of sports and decode India’s multi-billion-dollar sports industry.

Nadeem Sheikh is a sports professional with 6 years of experience who turned his passion into a profession. He has worked with multiple companies in the sports industry like KheloFantasy, CricketGraph, and YouTooCanRun. LinkedIn - / nadeemsheikh

Creative Supervisor: Aishwarya Javalgekar
Producer: Shreya Ahlawat

Brought to you by Bound, a company that helps you grow through stories.

Website: https://boundindia.com/

LinkedIn - / boundindia

Instagram -...

What happens if you goof up on live TV with millions of people watching?

In this episode, Nadeem talks to Vishnu Warrier, a sports presenter for Star Sports with over 6 years of experience commentating for tournaments like the Indian Super League, the Indian Premier League and the Cricket World Cup. 

Join us as we discuss with him what goes on inside a commentary booth, how to gracefully move on from an anchoring mistake, and why the commentator has the best seat in the stadium!

What does it take to be a master at fast-paced, action-packed commentary?

'Beyond The Field' is a podcast where we give you an all-access pass to the business side of sports and decode India’s multi-billion-dollar sports industry.

Nadeem Sheikh is a sports professional with 6 years of experience who turned his passion into a profession. He has worked with multiple companies in the sports industry like KheloFantasy, CricketGraph, and YouTooCanRun. LinkedIn - / nadeemsheikh

Creative Supervisor: Aishwarya Javalgekar
Producer: Shreya Ahlawat

Brought to you by Bound, a company that helps you grow through stories.

Website: https://boundindia.com/

LinkedIn - / boundindia

Instagram -...

Can the right media strategy turn a loss into a win? What are the strategies and innovations that go into managing the public image of legendary institutions and teams?

Nadeem sits down with Nishad Pai Vaidya, who was the media manager for Gujarat Lions, the Indian Premier League, and Gujarat Titans, and a Cricket Reporter with BBC. He has been in the sports industry since 2011 and currently works as a freelance anchor and commentator. 

They discuss the role and challenges of a media manager and the experience of running the IPL during the 2020 COVID lockdown. Nishad shares anecdotes of dealing with clueless interviewers and angry fans, his dream of meeting Sachin Tendulkar, and his journey into anchoring. 

'Beyond The Field' is a podcast where we give you an all-access pass to the business side of sports and decode India’s multi-billion-dollar sports industry.

Nadeem Sheikh is a sports professional with 6 years of experience who turned his passion into a profession. He has worked with multiple companies in the sports industry like KheloFantasy, CricketGraph, and YouTooCanRun. LinkedIn - / nadeemsheikh

Creative Supervisor: Aishwarya Javalgekar
Producer: Shreya Ahlawat

Brought to you by Bound, a company that helps you grow through stories.

Website: https://boundindia.com/

LinkedIn - / boundindia

Instagram -...