They are the power clubs of Mumbai. Sports have become a byproduct for most. And an average Mumbaikar can forget about getting in until you have serious moolah or clout says VIKAS GUPTA.
Do people take sports club membership for just sports facilities? Or are they the inner circle of power elite groups of the city as they include the rich and famous celebrities of political, government, financers, bankers, industrialists, Bollywood stars and so on. For example, with 10,800 members and a huge waiting list, (Cricket Club of India) the CCI club is the oldest and the most prestigious club in Mumbai. Lifetime membership for children of existing members is 20 lakhs!
Corporate membership is at 50 lakhs for only 10 years. Don’t you think a 50 lakh rupees to play some sports is a little too much! We can pay per visit from the interest of the Fixed deposit income and yet save a fortune. For government employees at commissioner or higher level are offered 13000 per year, certainly the club wants the cream of Mumbai to join in only. Moreover most new membership is proposed on invite basis only like the Chief Minister of Maharashtra or Prime Minister of India. Just imagine! You can actually call them buddies! Even after such high price there is a waiting period of decades. What makes CCI this exclusive? What are the other benefits apart of sports infrastructure that people are craving for?
The club membership appreciation is like buying Reliance stock in the 1980s! CCI membership that started at Rs 100 in 1933 is at more than 50 lakhs for just 10 years for a new entrant that too after much screening, interview and waiting. Thus the club has given more than price appreciation to its members and by paying the one time membership fee; members can enjoy those facilities and maintain their status for life even if their business were to fail at some point. Members also get security for their children who get life membership preference at a fraction of fee after the age of 21.
You might wonder how almost a century old club with limited space and vast history can still have room to grow. The newly elected president of CCI Kekoo Nicholson has several approaches of bringing about changes and advancement for the club, he says” My priority is upgrading the sports facilities with the latest amenities while maintaining the heritage soul of the club with more wooden interiors and paintings”. Mr Nicholson wants to run CCI like a corporate company to bring profitability, efficiency and accountability and this is why CCI has several committees run by top businessmen including Noel TATA himself.
Looking at the subsidized facilities like (a tea pot at Rs 6 serves 3 people), food, alcohol and even grocery, one feels like having travelled back in time to the 1990s. Not only the club celebrates most social functions like Christmas, New year, Diwali, Holi, Parsi new year, Navratri and so on all year round, the club has also undertaken innovative ideas such as retirement financial management seminar hosted by the retired Income tax commissioner to help their senior citizen members, seminar on Neurological disorder in elderly, Housie sessions, free health check-ups, Marathon training and so on. With so much social interaction with the biggies, certain members are even able to get some business out of this social club. Mr Nicholson also has plans to host activities between other elite clubs of South Mumbai and possibly having all the powerful Mumbaikars under one roof.
Similar is the case with the MCA (Mumbai Cricket association) ,where in there was a rush to become the MCA president by heavy weight politicians including Prithviraj Chavan, Gopinath Munde, Raj Thackeray, Sharad Pawar and Nitin Sardesai. One may wonder why established politicians (most of whom were Chief Minister Candidates) are interested in a sport club profile. This is the reason why with only 150 active members, the newly formed MCA (Mumbai Cricket association) Kandivali’s membership is at whopping 9 Lakh rupees. Whereas GSC’s (Goregaon sports club) membership is at 7 lakhs rupees even though it has a lot more sports infrastructure. Thus with 350 affiliations and MCA branding, MCA Kandivali is demanding a premium.
Other suburban clubs have also become elite like “The club, Andheri west” membership at 18Lakhs rupees or Otters Club, Bandra (famous for top Bollywood actors) whose membership is priceless and wait listed members are also willing to spend 40Lakh rupees for membership. One such member of this club said on the condition of anonymity that, “A club loses its exclusivity if the membership is easily acquired and we do not want lot of members, membership fee is not our core revenue stream. Hence we keep these fees at exorbitant prices so that we enroll only the elite if at all” Otters club was also offering optional early retirement scheme for its senior citizen members so that they are willing to sell their membership to interested members. Another member said that, “Sports clubs are a space unrelated to work life where people belonging to the same socio-economic class get a chance to interact and be with one another selflessly”
Whether we can justify these memberships rationally or economically is questionable, but it is interesting to be a part of such ‘Social Sports Clubs!’
