SAN FRANCISCO (Diya TV) — Entrepreneur Sanjay Govil is a major fan of sports uncommon to most Americans — he bought an Indian badminton team, the Delhi Acers, whom ended up as champions of India’s Badminton Premiere League. Now the Indian American businessman, who himself hails from Delhi, is seeking to use the same model to bring cricket to the U.S.
Fighting against the odds is something Govil is all too familiar with — in 1999, with no angel investments from any venture capitalist firms, Govil used $1,000 of his own money to found Infinite Computer Solutions, for whom he now serves as chairman. During Infinite’s initial public offering on the Bombay Stock Exchange, the company’s anticipated trading value was expected to be $50 million, instead, on its first day of trading, Infinite raised $1.8 billion.
Forever an avid cricket fan, Govil envisions a scenario where cricketers are regarded as highly by the populous as NFL and MLB athletes.
“It would be really amazing to see players here in the US compared to the greats of the sport across the world,” he said. “Cricket has an interesting history in the United States, elbowed out by baseball, but there is a rich cultural history that I’d love to see start again.”
“Sports is a great unifier and equalizer,” Govil said when asked why he would be prepared to make such a substantial financial commitment to sports. “The idea to merge my passion for sports with business was definitely a mixing of business with pleasure, but I anticipated that it would be a good business decision as well,” he added.
His decision to purchase the aforementioned Delhi Acers was a bit sporadic, and happened because he “grew up in Delhi and there is always the sentiment of home team pride.” Always the businessman, the investment was a no-brainer because “badminton is rapidly growing to be one of the most popular sports in the global arena.”
