Former NBDL VP Bobby Sharma joins IMG-Reliance in India

Press Release: IMG, the premier global sports and media company, announced today that Bobby Sharma has joined the company as Senior Vice President, Global Business Development, Basketball. Sharma joins IMG from the National Basketball Association (NBA) where he was Vice President & General Counsel of the NBA Development League (NBDL).

In his new role, Sharma will oversee the growth of IMG's basketball business around the world, including the emerging economies of India and Brazil. He will initially relocate to Mumbai, India to begin developing the company's exclusive commercial rights to basketball in that country, working as part of IMG Reliance (IMGR), a joint venture between IMG and Reliance Industries Ltd.

Earlier this year, IMGR acquired all commercial rights to basketball in India for a 30-year period. The pinnacle of IMGR's strategy for basketball in India will be the development of a professional basketball league in which players from around the globe will compete alongside Indian players at the highest level. Critical to the sustainable success of this project will be the development of the game at a grassroots level, the sourcing and development of local talent, and the re-organization and management of school and college leagues throughout the country to create a development platform for growing the talent pool of young Indian players, enhancing their opportunities to compete internationally and successfully represent India on the world stage.

Andrew Wildblood, Executive Vice President of IMG and Executive Director of IMGR said, "Bobby's appointment is a major step forward in IMG's commitment to developing the sport of basketball. In India, the IMG Reliance Scholarship program has already demonstrated that there are enormously talented young basketball players around the world with huge untapped potential. What is now required are highly efficient search and development processes to give that talent the chance it deserves to succeed, and high-caliber professional leagues in which for them to play. With successful talent pyramids in place, these leagues will thrive. With his experience developing the sport of basketball for almost a decade at the NBA, Bobby is the right person at the right time to help us achieve IMG's goals for the game around the world, both from a player and league development perspective."

"This is an enormous opportunity for me to make a lasting and meaningful contribution to the sport of basketball on a global level," Sharma said. "There is tremendous interest in the game in India and its dynamic market in particular, where more than half of the nation's population is under 25 years old, and just about every economic metric is headed in a positive direction. I'm excited to join the talented team of executives that IMG Chairman Ted Forstmann has put in place to help take the company to the next level."

During his tenure with the NBA, Sharma served as the Chief Legal Officer and a Senior Executive for the NBA Development League, the NBA's minor league, and its various operating entities. In this capacity, he oversaw various legal, business and basketball operational matters, and his responsibilities included management of all league and team agreements, and development and administration of all policies and procedures. Sharma was also responsible for related initiatives such as expansion and international league consulting. Areas of his focus included team ownership & operation, arenas, sponsorship, merchandise, marketing, intellectual property, broadcasting, product/digital content licensing, contests & sweepstakes, employment, anti-doping and security.

Prior to joining the NBA, Sharma practiced litigation in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and in New York City with Cravath, Swaine & Moore. He also served on the presidential campaign staff of former U.S. Senator, and Basketball Hall of Famer, Bill Bradley.

Sharma, who holds a B.A. in history and a J.D. degree from Duke University, was the recipient of the 2010 Corporate Counsel award from the South Asian Bar Association of New York. In 2009, Korn/Ferry International named him one of the 25 Most Influential South Asian Executives in the Media & Entertainment Industry. Sharma was also nominated by the Association of Media & Entertainment Counsel for the 2008 Sports Counsel of the Year award.

India to have a professional basketball league

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BREAKING NEWS!!! It's official - the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) has teamed up with the IMG Reliance venture to develop basketball in the country, and most importantly, develop a professional basketball league in India similar to the American NBA or the Chinese CBL.

I have been giddy with joy ever since I read this news! Three months ago, Reliance Industries, led by India's wealthiest Mukesh Ambani partnered with US-based sports marketing company IMG Worldwide in a joint venture to build sports facilities in India. The sports model that they set out to create was meant to "be similar to the one followed in mature sports and entertainment markets such as the US". IMG Worldwide is a sports management company and talent agency, who have been involved with sports promotion in the US for several years.

The agreement between BFI and IMG Reliance has been signed for 30 years.

From SportzPower:

The initiative is poised to significantly impact the competitive level of the sport and enhance the pool of talent in the country. The deal will see IMG Reliance assisting BFI on financial, promotional and technical aspects. As part of the agreement, the BFI has granted IMG Reliance commercial rights relating to basketball in India, including sponsorship, advertising, broadcasting, merchandising, film, video and data, intellectual property, franchising and new league rights. The highlight of the agreement is expected to be the development of a professional basketball league in India in which players from around the globe will compete alongside Indian players, similar to the CBL in China. A critical element of the new initiative will be the development of world class infrastructure in India to support the effort, including the construction of new arenas and training facilities.
In line with its focus on developing the game at the grassroots level, IMG Reliance will advise the BFI regarding the organization and management of school and college leagues throughout the country. This will create a platform to develop and augment the talent pool of young men and women, enhance their opportunities to compete internationally, and successfully represent India on the world stage.
Talking about the deal, BFI secretary general Harish Sharma said, “We cannot mention the finances of the deal but IMG reliance would be supporting all the programmes BFI would be conducting across the country.”

“IMG Reliance would be commercially supporting our school/college leagues, championships etc. They will also be helping in gradation of the players where in the top players will get financial support to play the game. International expertise will be brought in to India to promote the game. As a long term plan, they also plan to promote a professional league in future,” he added.
“This is a step to promote and popularise the game in India. IMG is a global company and will surely help us in making the sport the second most popular sport in a few years,” he added.
"We are working towards kicking off the leagues at the onset of the sporting calendar in the country," Sharma further added.

Commenting on the development, Andrew Wildblood, IMG Reliance said, "The game of basketball is one of the most popular spectator sports across the world. With the active support and participation from the Basketball Federation of India, we will work to take the sport to the next level. IMG Reliance will leverage IMG's unparalleled experience of developing sporting leagues and talent development to make basketball in India a commercially exciting sporting proposition with a large fan base.

IMG Reliance also plans to establish sporting academies in India, modeled on the world renowned IMG Academies at Bradenton, Florida, to provide athlete and coach training in the country.

The BFI's partnership with IMG Reliance will not be interfering with the grass-roots efforts of growing the game in the country, particularly that of Mahindra's partnership with the NBA for the Mahindra-NBA Challenge. I think it's great that we have two big companies competing in the basketball realm in the country: more competition = more money, and more money will be directly proportional to the rise of basketball in India.

Basketball is already one of the fastest growing sports in India - and as the interest grows, we now have to make sure that our coaches and management provide the right guidance to the future generation of ballers to make sure that there talent responds to the financial growth in the game.

The best way for things to improve is if several efforts continue to work parallel to each other, and I can see many things happening around the country now. The Mastan League in Mumbai made headlines for first introducing a short professional-type league in the city. The NBA has been increasing its interest in India over the past few years, promoting the game (and itself) via the Mahindra League, infrastructural growth, player development, commercial development, and others. American coaches like JD Walsh, Bob Baker, and Craig Esherick have been to the country to train coaches and players, and Walsh continues to train Indian coaches in achieving a high level of basketball knowledge.

And now, with IMG Reliance taking a positive step into the frame, there is a light at the end of the tunnel for Indian basketball fans. Time to get the next generation of hoopsters ready, because before we know it, we're going to have full-time basketball professionals in India!

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