India's Million-Dollar Esports Industry with Jaikishan Malik & Varun Gavankar

01/05/24 • 63 min

Beyond The Field: Inside India's Sports Industry

Does playing games for hours make you a professional athlete?

In this episode, Nadeem speaks to Jaikishan Malik and Varun Gavankar about the evolution of Esports and how the million-dollar industry had its humble origins in two PC games- Warcraft and Counter-Strike 1.6.

Jaikishan- Alliance and Partnership Manager and Varun- Digital and Content Manager- are avid esports enthusiasts working at Esportz- a fan engagement and gaming experience platform.

They discuss how India finally recognized Esports as a sport, how much it contributes to the sports economy, and how esports players can earn enough to own a Mustang! From gaming continuously for hours to travelling for gaming events, and participating in competitive tournaments; here's why esports are just as nerve-wracking and exciting as traditional sports!

Jaikishan Malik, Manager- Alliances and Partnership at GIGWORK, Esport athlete https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaikishan-malik-5916a2160/

Varun Gavankar, Manager- Digital and Content at GIGWORK https://www.linkedin.com/in/varundown/

'Beyond The Field' is a podcast where we give you an all-access pass to the business side of sports and decode India’s multi-billion-dollar sports industry.

Nadeem Sheikh is a sports professional with 6 years of experience who turned his passion into a profession. He has worked with multiple companies in the sports industry like KheloFantasy, CricketGraph, and YouTooCanRun. LinkedIn - / nadeemsheikh

Creative Supervisor: Aishwarya Javalgekar
Producer: Shreya Ahlawat

Brought to you by Bound, a company that helps you grow through stories.

Website: https://boundindia.com/

LinkedIn - / boundindia

Instagram -...

Does playing games for hours make you a professional athlete?

Jaikishan- Alliance and Partnership Manager and Varun- Digital and Content Manager- are avid esports enthusiasts working at Esportz- a fan engagement and gaming experience platform.

Jaikishan Malik, Manager- Alliances and Partnership at GIGWORK, Esport athlete https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaikishan-malik-5916a2160/

Varun Gavankar, Manager- Digital and Content at GIGWORK https://www.linkedin.com/in/varundown/

'Beyond The Field' is a podcast where we give you an all-access pass to the business side of sports and decode India’s multi-billion-dollar sports industry.

Brought to you by Bound, a company that helps you grow through stories.

Website: https://boundindia.com/

LinkedIn - / boundindia

Instagram -...

Previous Episode

Content Evolution: Shaping Indian Sports Narratives with Chintan Shah

From predictors and polls to visual play-by-plays, find out how sports is more of an experience than ever!
In this episode, Nadeems talks to Chintan Shah, Director of Content Management at Sportz Interactive- a digital media agency aimed at revolutionizing the fan experience of sports.
They discuss how interactive content can reimagine fan engagement and create a narrative for sports, the future of sports content management, and the challenges of keeping fans engaged during off-seasons. With technology like fantasy gaming, video graphics, data visualization and more, welcome to "experiencing" sports like never before!

'Beyond The Field' is a podcast where we give you an all-access pass to the business side of sports and decode India’s multi-billion-dollar sports industry.

Brought to you by Bound, a company that helps you grow through stories.

Website: https://boundindia.com/

LinkedIn - / boundindia

Instagram -...

Next Episode

Beyond the Finish Line: Insights into the Running World with P. Venkatraman

Here's why you should run for your life!
Nadeem talks to P. Venkatraman, Founder of YouTooCanRun, about all the reasons why running is the mother of all sports. They unpack how running became a 700-crore industry with over 1600 events across the country.
Mr Venkatraman is a US-certified race director and running coach, with two Guinness World Records to his credit. He has also organized running events with over 73k runners- bigger than the Mumbai marathon. In this episode, they discuss what motivates people to run, training a war veteran and bypass surgery patients (The Zippers Club), and why no one gets left behind in running!
Why is running a lifestyle? What would happen if everybody ran?
Tune in to find out!
P. Venkatraman, Founder, YouTooCanRun
https://www.linkedin.com/in/venkatp/
https://www.instagram.com/p.venkatraman/?hl=en

'Beyond The Field' is a podcast where we give you an all-access pass to the business side of sports and decode India’s multi-billion-dollar sports industry.

Brought to you by Bound, a company that helps you grow through stories.

Website: https://boundindia.com/

LinkedIn - / boundindia

Instagram -...