Broadcast now shapes how India experiences live sport: Siddharth Sharma

New Delhi: At FICCI Frames 2025, Siddharth Sharma, Head, Viewership & Monetisation Initiatives for Sports at JioStar, spoke on a panel titled “Cricketainment and Beyond, The Power of Live that Fuels M&E.” 

Sharma discussed how live sports, broadcast, and technology are increasingly interlinked, driving shifts in India’s media and entertainment landscape.

Tracing the evolution of sports broadcasting from radio to today’s highly personalised digital ecosystems, Sharma noted the longstanding relationship between live sport and broadcast.

“From the days when people crowded around a single TV set in 1983 to now, when every fan can curate their own viewing experience, the evolution has been extraordinary,” he said.

“Viewers today decide how, when, and where they watch and that empowerment is transforming the very definition of fandom,” he added.

He highlighted the role of AI, data analytics, and interactivity in reshaping live sport, enabling features such as multilingual commentary, alternate camera angles, and second-screen experiences.

“Audiences are no longer passive spectators; they’re part of the storytelling. That is the true power of live,” Sharma remarked.

Sharma also reflected on JioStar’s work with indigenous sports, particularly kabaddi, which he described as a personal passion and an example of how traditional games can reach modern audiences.

“Kabaddi is very close to my heart and I speak from the heart when I speak about it with a lot of fondness. When we started, the cynicism within us was that this sport, that’s not been actively consumed or seen anywhere, was part of a vestigial recollection.

A generation had probably never seen this sport, but what good marketing, a solid product, and concerted efforts of the Federation can deliver is the prime example of what Kabaddi did, it captured the nation and went on to become the second most watched sport,” he said.

“There was participation for Kabaddi we didn’t realise, but there was a strong undercurrent where people used to play Kabaddi even around Mumbai, and the Kabaddi clubs in Mumbai were in thousands even then. But they were never exposed or given the framework or structure and the broadcast heft that we brought to it,” he added.

Sharma noted that creative freedom supported by the Federation allowed the sport’s presentation to be reshaped without affecting its core authenticity.

“We tweaked the rules to add drama, like the 30-second raid, designed the mats to avoid clashing with jerseys, and created a new lexicon for the sport. All of this went on without changing its core proposition and was coupled with the aspirational value we drove to give pride to the players. People watch sport when they see competition of a particular level and there, you find the audiences,” he explained.

He concluded that as India continues to innovate at the intersection of live sports, technology, and entertainment, broadcast will remain a key driver of the country’s expanding sports economy.