Sports delegation highlights opportunity for closer ties with India

Michelle: "Meeting corporate leaders who operate at global scale expanded the way I think about strategy, innovation and partnership."

I arrived in India with the familiar mix of anticipation and professional focus that comes from travelling as part of a government sports delegation. What I didn’t expect was how deeply the experience would shape my thinking—not only about sport, but about community, connection, and the power of ideas shared across cultures. India, with its richness of colour, history and humanity, has a way of stretching your perspective in all directions at once.

Our schedule was as intense as the cities we moved through. Meetings with Reliance, NBA India and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) offered a window into three influential corporate giants. Yet each brought a different lens on the world, shaped by scale, ambition and a uniquely Indian fluency in navigating diversity.

One of my biggest takeaways from the trip was a shift in how I think about the business of sport. In New Zealand, our conversations often centre around players and pathways. In India, the focus is unquestionably on fans. With a population spread across dozens of languages and cultural identities, India has mastered the art of building sporting communities through storytelling, emotion and belonging.

Associate Minister for Sport Hon Chris Bishop speaking at a New Zealand Trade and Enterprise event in Mumbai

Reliance, in particular, illustrated this with ease. Their success in developing leagues and fan ecosystems isn’t just about delivering competitions—it’s about creating cultural moments. It made me reflect on how we, too, can bring experts from the broader business world into sport to expand our thinking and design approaches that resonate more deeply with the communities we serve.

Nothing prepared me for the sheer scale of India’s broadcasting environment. The number of Jio Sports channels alone speaks to a market where fragmentation isn’t a challenge—it’s an opportunity. But one truth stood out clearly: broadcasters globally are no longer paying for international content the way they once did.

This reinforced the urgency for us to tell our own stories more creatively. It’s no longer enough to rely on traditional broadcast deals; we need new formats, new channels and new ways of extending the narrative around our athletes. What India showed me is that fans don’t just want a match—they want to feel part of the journey.

The delegates meeting for a roundtable discussion with the Sports Authority of India

A highlight of the trip was meeting with Hockey India. The warmth of the welcome, the honesty of the discussions and the shared ambition for the sport created a sense of partnership that felt both natural and exciting.

We talked openly about our Memorandum of Understanding and established clear goals—reciprocal test matches at U18, Junior and Senior levels, shared resources, and programme collaboration that would raise standards for both nations. Learning about their partnership with the FIH and their experience hosting major events was also invaluable. India has become a global powerhouse in hockey, and their insights offered a roadmap for how we can elevate our own systems.

Yet perhaps the most meaningful part was the human connection. Despite the geographic distance, our sporting cultures share common values: pride, community, and a commitment to nurturing the next generation.

Our conversations with NBA India sparked a thought that has stayed with me: What does “home” mean for a sport?

Not every community can host an international hockey fixture—but that doesn’t mean they should miss out on the Black Sticks experience. NBA India has created powerful localised experiences without the need to move entire leagues around the country. It made me reflect on how we can similarly bring the Black Sticks story into communities in new ways, creating touchpoints that inspire connection even when live matches aren’t possible.

The New Zealand sports leaders visiting business solutions company Tata Consultancy Services in Mumbai

One of the unexpectedly valuable parts of the trip was the strengthened partnerships within our own delegation. Conversations about shared resources, joint broadcasting concepts and the upcoming Indian Centenary opened up avenues for collaboration that stretch well beyond hockey.

The trip also broadened my commercial perspective. Meeting corporate leaders who operate at global scale expanded the way I think about strategy, innovation and partnership. The cross‑sector insights were as enriching as the sport‑to‑sport discussions.

India is not a place you simply visit—it’s a place that transforms you. The colour, the contrasts, the generosity of the people and the depth of its sporting culture left a lasting imprint on me. I came home thinking differently: about fans, about storytelling, about partnership and about the role sport can play in connecting nations.

Our MOU with Hockey India now stands as the most promising path forward—an opportunity to grow together, share resources, and build a stronger future for our young athletes. But the real impact of the trip runs deeper. It reminded me why sport matters—and how, when we open ourselves to new cultures and ideas, it can become a powerful force for unity and inspiration.

 The Foundation's sports programme leverages the appeal of sport to forge cultural connections. It provides New Zealand sportspeople opportunities to grow their knowledge of Asia, establish connections and develop relationships with their counterparts throughout the region.