Sahara India Pariwar in is first international venture has joined hands with the International Hockey Federation (FIH) into corporatisation of the game in an historically large way by sponsoring the Junior Hockey Tournament which got under way in Malaysia on Sunday. The six competing nations are England, Germany, India South Korea, Pakistan and host Malaysia.
To receive commercial funding on a global, centrally and organised basis the FIH besides Sahara India Pariwar also brought on board Samsung Electronics.
As it turned out, the Global Hockey Partners (GHP), a commercial first for the game began as an offspring in the year 2003 when the FIH plunged into the corporate world in an organised manner.
By and large the FIH had embarked upon a plan to make hockey spectator-friendly and in that direction launched the GHP scheme with founding partners BDO and Rabobank.
In a way, until 2003, international hockey disciplines were sponsored 'peripherally', whereby a host organiser would usually market all commercial rights of an event to companies based in that particular country. Some how or another, there are a good number of advantages that the FIH opted for a global partnership.
Firstly, global companies more often than most opt for companies for partnership with global dimensions that match their image and standings in the majority of their especially target countries.
Secondly, the FIH being the rights-owner of global competitions are often looking for a position to offer continuity of a multi-year cycle of events.
Thirdly, under this umbrella of the global partnership, national associations have managed to succeed in creating not only local but at times long-term partnerships with the national office of a global partner. By every account, the GHP funding is allocated to the tune of seventy percent, directly to events and host organisers while the remaining amount is invested in improving each events television presentation, by funding a clutch of experts to work in conjunction with hosts broadcasters.
Fourthly, the global funding allows the FIH to set aside funds wherever necessary, in a slight but favourable proportion for tournaments in developing countries where event hosting assumes a higher commercial challenge.
Fifthly, the FIH Global Partners also take considerable interest in other high profile sport events. In no small manner, their influence and experience encourages to develop hockey in a more commercially oriented way to extend its exposure.
Lastly, hockey's television exposure relies on channels operating in the commercial sector. Moreover, on the broadcasters potential of selling advertising around their programming of an event.
By good measure, the principle aim of the first four years GHP period was to prove hockey's ability to deliver highly competitive returns on a partners' investment, in order to maximise the chances of continuation and long term involvement.
In fact, the GHP succeeded in fulfilling its maximum quota of partners within 15 months of the initial four-year period of partnership. To be precise, four in all. Surely it illustrates that the foundations have been solidly laid for the commercial future of international hockey.
SAHARA WORLD HOCKEY TEAM RANKINGS: The FIH in 2003 launched its first official world ranking systems. The resultant outcome was from an extensive and successful tests, over the previous year that the world rankings brought to hockey an object, open and transparent system to determine poor competitions at major events, as well as adding considerable statistical interest to the results of those events.
Above all, the ranking system is used to determine the pool composition at important FIH events and continental federations events and qualifiers.
The methodology for the calculation of world rankings of countries is based upon final rankings of countries, senior teams at Olympic Games, FIH world level events for instance, Champions Trophy, Champions Challenge, Continental Championships, and all qualifying events for these tournaments.
Separate rankings are made for men and women and the points for continental federation events are weighted to reflect the varying standards and participation that at present exist between the five continental federations. The FIH publishes the comparison of relative strengths of internationally active countries at regular intervals.
In many respects, the ranking system reflects both current and past performances. Nonetheless, results from the past are progressively less weighted on a year-by-year basis. There is a twenty-five percent discount for year over a four-year cycle, until they are deleted from the calculations.
Still, the system ensures that as far as the ranking are concerned, success at a single tournament, even the Olympic Games or World Cup, will not be sufficient to make up for insignificant results in the preceding three to four years, and vice versa.
In a way, this particular ranking system will therefore reflect a team's performance over a four-year period.
WORLD HOCKEY RANKINGS ON TV: Last September Sahara India Pariwar, the newest global partner of the FIH extended its involvement with international hockey by acquiring the title sponsorship of the rankings.
As it turned out, it reinforced the relationship between WORLD HOCKEY and Sahara. This sponsorship of the Sahara-World Hockey team rankings also created daily promotion and exposure of hockey throughout Asia and the Middle East.
Sahara's three-year deal with the FHI guarantees daily exposure of the Sahara World Hockey team rankings in India, Pakistan, the Middle East, Asia via Cable and Satellite broadcaster, Ten Sports. Ten Sports is producing four 30-second editorial television spots every month, focussing on the updated rankings and other topics such as player and team features.
The spots are aired daily during prime time on Ten Sports and are also offered free of charge to other global broadcasters.
Sahara India Pariwar, also sponsor both national Indian Cricket and senior and junior hockey teams. They have taken various initiatives for the promotion of sports in India, for which it received the prestigious FICCI Annual Award 2002-2003 for 'Outstanding Corporate Sports Initiative'. At the time, Managing Worker and Bhaiman of Sahara India Pariwar, Subrata Roy Sahara said: "This is an additional tie-up between Sahara and India's number one Olympic sport which underlines Sahara India Pariwar's enthusiasm for the international promotion of hockey and its commitment to the sport in the long term."