After exploring various facets of the entertainment world, reality shows are now ready to enter the sports arena. With a show on cricket ready to hit the small screen, to tap and discover talented budding cricketers from across the country, many young players from various sports backgrounds feel that more such shows are needed for lesser-known sports, to encourage young players who have the talent but lack opportunity, visibility and a launchpad.
Hockey champ Yuvraj Walmiki says, “Reality shows on sports like kabaddi, hockey and even football can change the future of the players. We are often not very well recognised as cricket being a glam sport monopolises the limelight. There are many players like me out there, who are sweating it out for the country at various international events and looking at the times we’re in, I feel reality shows on the not so popular sports can definitely change the way these sports are looked at.”
Many feel that this is also an ideal way to bring back the lost charm of many sports. “Many questions have been raised about hockey being still called the national sport as it has lost its sheen. I think reality shows would act as catalysts to restore the image and the popularity of the game,” says young cricketer Utsav Chaudhary.
Monica Nathani, who was a table tennis player in school, adds that the glam quotient added by these reality shows will help players earn better. “For instance, we hardly see any chess players or kabaddi players getting ad offers. This is because their commercial value is not too good. Blame it on the promoters for they are the ones who aren’t promoting these sports well. However, if the nation is watching a young player on the small screen, it will increase both the popularity of the sport and the commercial success these sports and players need. Today if you’re on the small screen, you are popular,” says Monica.
Chess player Tania Sachdev on the other hand is unsure if any other sport except cricket would have much of a commercial draw. “A reality show on sports like kabaddi, table tennis, etc wouldn’t get the commercial success it is looking for at this point in time. First, we need to foster their value in the sports arena. We need small steps like adequate finances and excellent marketing to pump up their value first, so that people are interested in their reality show quotient,” she concludes.