MINOR SPORTS in Jamaica are doomed to forever roam around in the vast wilderness of unprofitability unless one thing is quickly realised - sports is a business.

The phrase rolls easily off the tongue but it remains a foreign concept to not just Jamaica, but the region on a whole.

While other nations around the world have invested millions in the infrastructure necessary for the development of sports, regionally, for the most part, we have looked on it as simply a fun activity or a venture of charity - then expect to compete on the same level.

However, let us turn our focus back to the local sporting arena for now. The issue of local bodies, especially the minor ones, crying for support from the corporate sector is not a new one.

Recently, allegations which insinuate that a gender bias is responsible for certain sports failing to attract regular sponsorship have surfaced. From this corner, that assertion is not only a ridiculous notion but totally unfounded.

Charitable organisations

The simple fact we need to bear in mind is that sponsors are not charitable organisations but businesses and the primary purpose of a business is profit.

Therefore, the apparently inherent assumption in a lot of these sporting bodies, that corporate Jamaica just doles money out without expecting anything in return, is a myth.

A sponsorship deal, despite the handing out of a gigantic cheque with all smiles, is a marketing investment. The question for a minor sport looking to seek support is what can be offered to investors in return for their support? Sadly, the answer in many cases is not a whole lot. For one thing, sponsors need to know that their product will be seen on a wide scale and pumped into sports currently generating interest and vibrancy. In the case of less popular sports, this cannot be the case. I'd bet my last dollar that any well-organised sport which attracts nationwide interest regardless of whether it is played by men or women, has the potential to attract even rival sponsorship battles.

Gender

The issue of gender will always be second, third, fourth and fifth to the issue of profit. However, let's not be too hard on the minor local sporting bodies.

Many of their administrators are not paid and, in many cases, do it out of a love for the game. The issue then becomes a circular one without money being pumped into the sport; administrators would have to be crazy to take up the slot as a full-time job, while businesses, on the other hand, will not be advised to put money into such unstable structures.

With an already-tough economy, minor sporting bodies provide no real reason for corporate Jamaica to engage in legitimate investment opportunities.

kwesi.mugisa@gleanerjm.com