Umbrellas would unfurl in Kerala when it rains in Moscow. This was a joke prevalent in Kerala at a time when Keralites in general were misunderstood as communists and everything about politics for the communists here allegedly depended on developments in the erstwhile Soviet Union.
That old joke seems to have come alive once again – in a different sense and in a different context, of course –as the 21st FIFA World Cup football championship in Russia has set the minds of the soccer-crazy millions in Kerala on fire while the State’s sports and affiliated goods market is charged with the hope of getting huge additional business.
Observers expect the World Cup to bring business worth a minimum of Rs 700 crore to the State’s market in the sectors of sports and affiliated goods such as football, goal nets, boots, socks, jerseys, other players’ accessories and flags of the participating countries, designing and printing of flex board and television set sales by the time the event is over in Russia.
There is virtually not even a single village, town or city that is not painted in the yellow-green of Brazil, blue of Argentina or the other flag colours of favourite participants in the championship. larger-than-life cutouts of soccer stars like Neymar, Messi and Ronaldo are now guarding village, town and city squares across the State.
“All this is money, as far as the businessmen are concerned,” said CR Prabhakaran, who runs a design studio and flex printing unit near Thrissur, to where many great names of Indian football like IM Vijayan belong. “I have already printed over 250 huge flex boards and over 175 of them were for Brazil fans. Bear in mind, I am just a small printer,” Prabhakaran says.
Flex boards with messages that extol favourite teams and roar at adversaries’ fans are the most visible ‘symptoms’ of Keralites’ soccer fever but these constitute only a small part of the World Cup market here. According to Prabhakaran, “World Cup means good business in monsoon, the leanest season for us. But that ended with the start of the event,” says Prabhakaran.
The business in sports goods shops is brisk and it will remain so throughout the tournament period and for two or three weeks after it ends, say merchants. Everything related to soccer — footballs, goal nets, boots, socks, jerseys of participating teams — is in great demand, according to Peethambaran Menon, a small sports goods shop owner.
“My shop is small and I get almost no business during monsoon. But I make it a point to stack my shelves with every available soccer-related item when the World Cup happens every four years. In my opinion, I haven’t seen such overwhelming response from people in the market for any of the previous World Cup tournaments,” Menon claims.
Kumaran, another sports goods trader says everyone in his field is getting good business this season. “Everyone is selling every kind of goods: foreign, branded, ‘local’, costly, cheap- all kinds. All items have takers. Most often, there is not even usual bargaining. People, mostly youngsters and children, are ready to buy things at the prices we quote,” he adds.
According to Menon, “The World Cup business is certainly huge and it would continue till the event is over but its longevity depends on the prospects of five or six teams like
Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Spain and Portugal. Therefore we would like such teams not to get expelled in the early stages.”
However, the biggest chunk of World Cup market in Kerala— in terms of money —is taken away by the television sets sector. According to a source in the Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samithi, the major traders’ organization, the World Cup business in the TV sets sector in the State worth more than 300 crore.
like in the case of the sports goods sector, the World Cup business lasts almost to the end of the tournament season for the TV sets sector also. “Onam festival is the biggest season for TV sets like in the case of other white goods but when the
FIFA World Cup finals come, it beats even the Onam business,” said Darsan Kumar, a TV sets retailer.