The End of Sport

Roger Federer slumped to his 6-0 annihilation in the third set of his quarter final at Wimbledon in 2021, and soon after, announced his retirement. Down in the depths of my misery, it sparked a series of thoughts I had on Sport, and life, and then onwards to brand-building, passion-projects and such. In expressing these musings, I attempt to distill insights into what Sport teaches us, and why it’s such an essential part of the human experience.

The spark 

The moment Federer announced his retirement there was, for me, a sense of what I would describe best as disgust. I didn’t feel like I wanted to watch tennis anymore. It was like a love affair gone sour. Like a man hating on all woman-kind as the love of his life left him for another. Federer had been such an important part of my life for the over 20 years. He was Tennis. He was Sport. And his absence from it simply meant I wouldn’t watch tennis anymore. 

Thinking back

Recalling instances when I had done something similar - Giving up watching a sport just because my hero had retired - I didn’t have to go too far back. I had done it with quite some fervour after Michael Schumacher retired for the first time. This pattern repeated across other icons

Jonah Lomu - Rugby. 

Michael Jordan - NBA / Basketball. 

Tiger Woods & Annika Sorenstam- Golf. 

Lance Armstrong - Cycling / Tour de France. 

Usain Bolt - Sprinting. 

Steffi Graf - Women’s Tennis. 

Clearly, I had fallen in and out of love many times!

The pattern 

What was common in all these ‘affairs’, then?

• Capturing stars during their peak or transcendent moments: I had ‘caught’ each star in their upswing. Or when they reached such a point that they transcended the confines of their own sport, if there is such a thing. A stunning victory. A series of wins against the incumbent champ. A display of unbelievable skill never before seen in the (any) sport, so good it leaves the casual viewer stunned.
• The Impact of Distribution / Visibility / Availability: A sport suddenly becoming available on television meant something new to watch, and if it coincided with one of the upswings of a hero, that was a ripe moment to latch on not only to the sport but also the hero, and their legendary battles with contemporaries. 
• Fierce rivalries: While these heroes or challengers were nearing or at the peak of their powers, there was also an able adversary who provided the ideal villain in a the story-line. (I use the word villain because while they may not have done anything bad or illegal, they were surely in competition with the pretender hero, and hence, conveniently labelled villain.) 
• Dominance: I never seemed to get bored of watching them winning. There were a few blips along the way, but there was, in each case, a sustained period of dominance, where they looked untouchable. Perhaps this was a reflection of my own thought process at the time, on feeling invincible.
• Community: While not true for every champion I named, surely Sport makes for great conversations. And with like-minded people following those sports in ample supply at college & work, talking endlessly about the nuances of the sport & conquests of the champions was an added bonus. 
• Media frenzy: What went hand-in-hand with the distribution was the coverage for the sport in most key media at the time. News. Sports sections of newspapers. Repeated ads across channels. And such. It felt like everyone was talking about them. And I got swept off my feet, with the tide. 
• Individual Sport Icons, even in Team sports: While there was the Team that was a hero in many cases, sometimes the individual was so good, you watched the entire sport just for them. Case in point, Leo Messi - Games of Paris St German watched before Messi joined the team - zero; after Messi - zero; during his time there - almost every game.
• End of eras: While many ducks had to align to become enamoured with an icon, the end was usually similar, and swift. For most of them, like was the case with Federer, it was the announcement of retirement. For others, maybe a career-ending injury. 

A thought on Marketing Sports

If I was to be running a sport, it would have a flywheel of all of the above, running ceaselessly, almost naturally. New consumers of the sport - usually unsuspecting youngsters, or newly retired couch potatoes - would keep joining at the peak of famous rivalries, or a series of victories. While the idea would be to somehow time the rise of the next generation soon after an era ends. Make a push for a new hero, just when the old guard is relinquishing the throne, while being careful that the takeover is not a big rivalry in itself, else you may lose the icon’s biggest fans. This is somewhat easier in team sports, where each team is like the proverbial Ship of Theseus, always changing, but retaining its core identity, or style of play. Except when a freak like also Messi comes along and changes everything. Clubs, in team sports ie, invest significant amount of marketing effort in talking about the club’s history, attempting to form an emotional bond with their newly acquired fans. And then continuing to drive the point home at every occasion. 

On brand building

Come to think of it, this is how brands are also built. This is why the best companies pay top dollar to get into the minds of the youngest when their minds are rather malleable. Why does a Ferrari invest so much in a sport like Formula One? So that youngsters, who will no doubt be attracted by the speed and glamour of the sport, begin to associate the name ‘Ferrari’ with great engineering, passion, precision, luxury, et cetera, et cetera. And eventually when we grow up and have the means to buy anything, the thing we most desire to buy is a Ferrari. If we had any iota of rationality left in our heads, we wouldn’t buy one. Because at the end of the day, it’s ‘just a car’, isn’t it? Of course, luxury brands scoff at these ideas, because they know so well that humans aren’t entirely rational at making purchases. In fact, we are almost entirely emotional, tribal, and driven by herd-mentality. 

On passion projects

If you were to observe a child closely, one thing that would strike you irrespective of gender, race, colour, anything really, is how CURIOUS the child is. And PERSISTENT too. Up until us adults help them FORGET these basic traits. And then until something some of them are lucky to come across, usually by chance, that captures and reignites this curiosity, and they put their heads down and build something beautiful. One thing that Sport, and even art, teaches us is the value of perseverance. Hours and hours of play are table stakes in the making of a champion. And as this passion project sees the light of day as a product, all the marketing elements that I outlined above come into play. So that people get excited about the product, invest emotional energy, time, into buying it, talking about it and recommending it to others. And that’s how something as ‘simple’ as your wall clock or a chair, go from passion project to landing up in your room. 

Life

On the face of it, Sport seems to be about Winning. Especially how Professional Sport and sportspersons are portrayed. And indeed, that’s what attracts the fans, me included. But that’s not what keeps the fans engaged. It’s the very raw, emotional human stories. As Federer’s career drew to a close, I had this moment of catharsis because I felt myself in his shoes, letting go of the sport that he loved so much. And I loved so much. I felt the same when Messi and Argentina won the World Cup in 2022. What else was left to watch really in football! Someone would still win, there would be other champions. But will I be able to relive that emotion I felt watching one of these stars? In that question lies the answer to what truly makes Sport so important in our lives. It is not about Winning. It is that warm fuzzy feeling when you’re in the midst of it, watching or playing. The breeze on your face as you start running towards the ball, or at the top of your run up. The rush of electricity as you hold that pawn and advance it two steps, and let go. Life is in the living. Over and over again. 

So is this the End, of Sport?

As with any distressing moment, as with any dark night, there always is the first light of dawn, springing us back to life. There is no end, there just is running, playing, breathing, crying tears of joy. That, my dear friend, is life.