Nepali sports fans are incredible!

 

1M watching!

I was one of the 1 million+ concurrent viewers watching the finals of the SAFF Women's Championship between Nepal and Bangladesh. Tough loss for Nepal, but the game really was not the story. It was the fans!

As expected, Nepal's national stadium, Dasharath Rangashala (yes - where this blog gets its name), was officially packed to capacity at 15,000, with some estimates of an overflow crowd of close to 25,000. Beyond that, there were fan zones setup across the capital and country that attracted tens of thousands of viewers. Then there is the TV viewership - which one sports and media veteran guesstimates at 60% of Nepali households having the game on. This would equate to somewhere around 21 million Nepalis watching the match at home.

A jam packed fan zone in Kathmandu.
Photo: RONB

These are absolutely phenomenal numbers when for example the ongoing MLB baseball World Series between the big market New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers has been getting around 13 to 15 million viewers in the USA - a country ten times the size of Nepal and with infinite times the media, marketing and sports prowess.

In the sports business space, you often read or hear senior executives celebrating a few thousand views of a live stream of a sport event. Nepali fans say, "Hold my milk tea!"

The sports fan frenzy is not a one-off either. Over the summer Nepali fans watched and attended the Men's National Cricket Team at the T20 World Cup in droves, including packing a stadium in Dallas, Texas. In August, the CAVA Women's Volleyball Challenge Cup, which the Nepal Women's National Volleyball Team hosted had over 400 thousand concurrent viewers for the tournament final which involved Nepal. Given that some of these events are lesser regional tournaments the interest level is even more remarkable.

In Nepali sports, often administrators, politicians, officials and sometimes even players go missing (figuratively and literally!) but the fans keep showing up - no matter the sport, tournament, result or gender.

PS - It's what motivates me to keep at it!

Why I do not pay attention to youth national team results

Bangladesh defeat Nepal 4-1
to lift the SAFF U-20 Championship
(photo: SAFF Social Media)

There is lots of sadness, bewilderment and anger across social media on Nepal's 1 - 4 loss to Bangladesh in the finals of the U-20 SAFF Championship.  I am at a point where I do not pay much attention to Nepal's youth teams results. Sure - I want Nepal to win.  However, win or lose we all know the true realities of youth football in Nepal.  While there are some encouraging things happening in the grassroots space, it is bare bones when it comes to organized youth football across the country. A victory in the SAFF U-20 tournament would only have papered over the cracks.

Holding an annual one month long U-18 and U-16 tournament for clubs that completely ignore youth football for the rest of the year or resurrecting the previously failed ANFA Academy model simply does not cut it.  

I actually do not blame ANFA for not doing enough. What I blame them for, both at the central and district levels, is creating endless roadblocks for those that are ready to do something. I'm a firm believer that Nepal's football development has to be led by the private sector. Public institutions are too dysfunctional, incompetent and political to get anything done.

To those who doubt the readiness and commitment of the private sector: as a small example, I have around ten ongoing chats on my WhatsApp with different individuals eager to initiate and self-finance youth football related projects. The passion and interest is undeniably there!

Top flight football in Guatemala

Between all the AFCON and AFC Asian Cup matches online right now, I was able to catch some live football while in Guatemala and viewed the first match of the Liga Guate Clausura at the home stadium of Antigua GFC, the local club of the charming former colonial capital about one hour outside of Guatemala City. Some musings from the game:

• Antigua GFC's mascot is an avocado! --->>
• Quite a few tourists, many who are students at the local Spanish language schools, attended the game. Most of the gringos were gone by halftime
• There was Taco Bell food available inside the stadium. They are one of the team's sponsors. It can thus be definitively said that Antigua GFC has better food at their games than Aston Villa or Arsenal (two Premier League teams whose matches I attended during the Christmas/New Years holidays)
• Turnout was a few hundred people (at most maybe 1,000) and it was a fairly quiet and polite crowd
• Standard of play was probably a little below USL Championship
• There was enough merch on sale to satisfy hardcore supporters and plenty of fans were wearing team swag 
  
  

  

  Photos from the home match of Antigua GFC

Nepal Super League - just keep it going!

Photo courtesy of Nepal Super League Facebook page

Due to travel and time zones, I did not get to catch as much of the second edition of the Nepal Super League (NSL) as I might have hoped. Nonetheless, I received regular updates via social media and from folks on the ground. Here are a few brief takeaways from the recently completed competition:

• NSL is clearly a cut above any other football tournament in Nepal in terms of standard of play and marketing (both league and franchises). It provides a great benchmark for other soccer competitions in the country and contributes greatly to the football ecosystem
  
  
• The NSL needs 3 or 4 more consecutive years of play to clearly embed itself in the football landscape. Continuity is key. Any potential hiatus and it risks becoming another political pawn in Nepali football politics - as it was in the last ANFA elections
  
  
• NSL club franchises must be sustainable. If I am the NSL management, I take learnings from the likes of MLS (USA), ISL (India) and A-League (Australia) - all franchise leagues, and copy their best practices. Minimize costs, scale resources, create exclusivity and provide opportunities to generate revenues
  
  
  
• You can't expect football fans in Kathmandu alone to sustain the NSL. Especially in an area that has so many other entertainment options. Games need to be played outside the Valley and franchises need to be able to tap into additional revenues a local fanbase and a dedicated venue can generate

NSL is on the right track and has been a great boon for domestic football. It has given football fans and observers a peek into the potential of Nepali football.  The main thing now is to just keep it going.

Bhim Thapa

I had the good fortune to work and interact with Bhim Thapa on several occasions, including on a grassroots football coaching program we organized together in Morang district. At the time, grassroots football and coach education was not really appreciated by much of the Nepali football fraternity. I recall people questioning why we would waste our time training junior coaches and very young kids in the villages. Bhim Thapa knew exactly why! 

Farewell dear coach.

Coaching clinic Bhim Thapa and I coordinated in Biratnagar

Bhim Thapa teaching a group of aspiring coaches
from different villages across Morang district