Is food delivery major Swiggy set to make an entry in the sports business? Earlier this month, the company had set up a new subsidiary in the space of sports & recreational activities. Swiggy said it will mainly engage in sports team ownership, management, talent development, etc.
But with this subsidiary, is the food delivery major also set to make a full-fledged entry in the sports business? Swiggy management addressed the concern in the company’s recent earnings call after the Q2 quarterly results announcement.
Swiggy Entering Sports Business?
CEO Rohit Kapoor clearly stated that they “are not getting into the sports business or in any significant way.” With this, he added that Swiggy’s consumers, especially in the top metros, are seeing pickleball as a very fast-growing recreational activity. In fact, pickleball is one of the fastest-growing sports, not just in India, in metros, but all over the world.
“In some countries, it has outpaced even tennis; and there was an opportunity for us to be very early in the game, acquire the rights to own one of the teams in the world, Pickleball League, which will be launched very soon,” Swiggy CEO Kapoor stated.
The food delivery company has acquired the Pickleball team rights for the city of Mumbai. “Again, clarifying very clearly, we are not getting into sports business or sports events, etcetera. Very specifically, it is about acquiring the rights to the team at this point in time,” Kapoor said.
Dismissing any confusion, Kapoor clarified that their decision is purely restricted to owning rights of owning the Mumbai Pickleball team. There is no other plan at this point in time to expand into sports at all.
Swiggy BLCK membership
Earlier this week, Swiggy rolled out an exclusive invite-only membership for consumers called One BLCK, seeking the highest level of convenience and service. “One BLCK is designed to deliver an elevated Swiggy experience,” said the on-demand convenience platform in a regulatory filing.
