 Ladies and gentlemen, our hashtag for today is hashtag E4M, group M, let's play. So do join into the conversation on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn or whatever your medium of social choice is. Ladies and gentlemen, now to kick start this conference and not to keep you waiting any further, I would like to invite on stage Dr. Anurad Batra, chairman and editor-in-chief BW Business World and founder Exchange for Media. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome him with a round of applause. Welcome you Dr. Batra. Good morning. It's my honour and privilege to be here. First of all it's a very happy new year to you, our first event at Exchange for Media in the new year. Also I met my friends, my gratitude to Srinni for the last two decades plus. Srinni has been an integral part of Exchange for Media's journey, PK for entrusting us and partnering with us on various initiatives. I must also welcome the presence of a stalwart who I just went up and shook hands. Mr. Pulela Gopichand who really doesn't need an introduction, please give him a big round of applause. You know, somebody who is synonymous with sports. I see Mr. Singh walking in. Welcome. I see him. I see that we're only on the Facebook. The good thing is to meet my friends and I met Ms. Dhani for the first time, but your passion for sports, especially table tennis and building the table tennis ecosystem. Mr. Vineet Karnak, Mr. Rameen Lakhani and everybody from the sports business, sports marketing, sports media arena. I must tell you that Exchange for Media, we started our first sports marketing summit 15 plus years back. We had envisaged the sports marketing summit as an initiative to bring the then rising non-cricket sports and the leaders of the non-cricket sports together. So this is 16 years too late or possibly we started too early. But in the last 16 years a lot has changed. I won't evangelize to this audience about what has changed in sports marketing and the business sports, but just to contextualize today, when we talk of sports, we're talking of women in sports, which we didn't talk 16 years back. We're talking two days after a leading broadcaster has picked up the rights for the women's cricket sports and a record figure and that augurs well for other sports. What is happening in cricket will sooner or later follow other sports. So you will see whether it's a table tennis or a badminton, there'll be women leagues. And again, sports and women are really a true way to empower women to build a more diverse, sensitive country. Second is the rise of fans. The true democracy is where fans get democratized. Today, as part of the panels, there is a leading fan company which is part of it. I'm invested in a fan company. I introduce you to the M.P.K. So I know what's happening in the fan sports. We met Fandrum, some of the people started it. So really I think the next three to six years belong to fans really coming face to face with the sports icons for their passion, for their knowledge, for their inspiration. Digital and social media and fans as tools are enabling the journey of fans in the sports ecosystem. The third thing is happening. Marketing budgets in the last eight months have been under pressure as the funding dried up. And I think the winter of funding is ending. That's my sense. Wait two more months. Even in the winter of funding, India attracted more money than any other market in the world. I keep giving the statistics that in June 2021, India attracted almost 5 billion in direct start-up investment. In June 2022, we attracted 15 billion dollars. So even in the winter of funding, and funding has a direct impact on how much grand spent, especially the new age start-up companies. Our hunch is that over the next 15 months, more than 30 billion dollars will go into start-ups. In the 30 billion dollars go into start-ups, even if we took an 8%, the start-ups spend much more than 8%. They spend more like 14 to 16%. You can imagine the amount of money that will come into sports marketing because a lot of money will flow into marketing. And sports is true engagement. I don't have to tell to this audience. The fourth thing is happening is the rise of sports tech companies. I have my friend here. I invited the founder, Saurav. But Saurav is not here. He started my tech. The sports tech companies, you'll see more and more. I mean, every company has to be a tech company, whether you're a media company or you are a services tech player. Clearly, in sports technology, it's changing the way each stakeholder is interacting with every other stakeholder. They're also making sure that the aspirations of common folks to be able to enjoy sports and to be able to play sports and to be able to take that sports event to a larger audience will happen. My take is one of the examples. There are many other players in the sports tech ecosystem. Fifth, which is possibly the biggest change happening in sports. Today, of course, I share my birthday with the world's greatest cricketer. And I told Ms. Dhani that that's not Sachin Tendulkar. It is Sachin Tendulkar's graciousness and kindness that he calls Sir Donald Bradman the greatest cricketer because, I mean, in traditional terms, Sir Donald Bradman was great. But that's a quitter in me talking. When I was growing up, our icons were... I was telling PK that the two spots that I really watch are tennis and hockey because my father would watch them, so I started watching them. Of course, I do watch cricket in Edmonton and Table Tennis in every spot. But the icons that we grew up were mostly cricketing icons. But I grew up also watching tennis. So, Elina Stase, John McEnroe, Jimmy Connor, Matt Swillender, and I can go on Steven Network and the hockey players. And I met a friend of mine whose grandfather was a legendary hockey player. He just died and I insisted that I want to meet your grandfather. So, the emergence of non-cricket icons. That is making sure that more and more people take up non-cricket sports and because of the commercialization of sports, more money coming into sports. The sports players in the non-cricket sports can also make it as a career, which we debated for two decades that parents don't let their children become sports people because it's not a career. I think that's no longer a discussion. The last point that I want to make is the ecosystem of sports is growing because the infrastructure of sports is growing. India doing well at the Olympics, you had a role, sir, in that, is also making sure that the non-cricket sports, and we love cricket, there's no question about that, but non-cricket sports will become bigger and bigger. What is happening with non-cricket sports is tip of the iceberg. I think, as we say, that this century is India's century and that's not an exaggeration. I meet, in my role at Business World, I meet private equity guys, venture capitalists, people who run sovereign funds. India will get, in the next three years to six years, more money than any country in the world because the only country that is growing is the only country that is a democracy and it's the only country where public-private partnership of various kinds, whether it's the Delhi airport, which is a public-private partnership, or it is India's push into digital services like UPI, ONDC, they're all Section 8 companies, but they are, you know, in some way government's initiative. India will grow, and as the sports infrastructure, thanks to the ministry of sports and sports people now being at the helm of most of the sports federation, most, not all, long way to go, and they say there is more sport in politics and there's more politics in sports than in politics. I think the future of sports, the business of sports and sports marketing is bright. I'm sure our colleagues from Group M and experts on sports marketing will talk to you about the numbers, but I just want to say that we are lucky that we are part of that growing ecosystem and we are contributing to it. Exchange for media for the last 22-plus years has stayed at the forefront of bringing you anything that the brand owners, marketeers, and the agency ecosystem does. Group M and WPP are clearly the leaders quantitatively and qualitatively and in thought leadership by making sure they bring all the stakeholders together and look at the sports marketing arena over a three to 10-year horizon and not just look at what's happening today. So we are lucky to partner with Group M and WPP on today's Sports Marketing Summit. I'm sure it will become a two-day three-day initiative. The INV Minister and the Sports Minister, Shiran Raq Takur had initially agreed, but because of the BJP National Working Committee meeting, his schedule went into Hewai. He's still trying the 50-50 chance, but yes, he's aware of the work Group M is doing in this domain and of the Exchange for Media and WPP's Sports Marketing Summit. I don't want to stay between you and the leaders of the sports domain who are really pioneering the growth of non-cricket sports. I wish you luck. I hope you get inspired and you contribute your bit to this growing ecosystem. Thank you. God bless you.