The Game-Changer India’s Athletes Have Been Waiting For
On October 6, 2025, Indian sports witnessed a watershed moment with the launch of Cornerstone Meraki Endeavour (CME)—a specialized joint venture dedicated exclusively to elevating non-cricket sports and athletes in India. This isn’t just another agency merger; it’s a strategic realignment signaling a fundamental shift in how India approaches athlete representation beyond its cricket-dominated landscape.
The Partnership: Complementary Strengths, Unified Vision
Cornerstone Sport, founded in 2008 by Bunty Sajdeh, brings 15+ years of commercial expertise, elite brand partnership networks, and the Indian Sports Honours (ISH) platform. Meraki Sport & Entertainment, established in 2015, carved its niche through purpose-driven brand building and its proprietary ‘Axia’ framework—a brand alignment tool integrating Performance, Personality, and Purpose.
The synergy is powerful: Cornerstone’s commercial muscle combined with Meraki’s authentic storytelling creates brands with both credibility and commercial power. CME’s roster includes Olympic medalists, Grand Slam champions, and World Champions across badminton, tennis, shooting, motorsports, gymnastics, swimming, and table tennis—representing over 50 million combined social media followers.
The CME Difference: Beyond Transactional Representation
CME’s approach fundamentally reimagines athlete management through five core pillars:
1. The Axia Framework: This proprietary methodology builds athlete brands on three foundations—Performance (athletic excellence), Personality (authentic character), and Purpose (values and social impact). This prevents hollow celebrity while creating multidimensional icons with sustained relevance.
2. Holistic Management: Comprehensive services spanning commercial representation, life-stage management, legacy planning, legal counsel, and wealth advisory—ensuring athletes are supported throughout their entire lifecycle.
3. IP Creation: Rather than simply placing athletes in brand campaigns, CME curates and commercializes athlete-owned IPs, creating independent revenue streams through content, products, and experiences.
4. In-House Capabilities: Integrated content creation and community engagement teams enable authentic storytelling and direct fan connections—crucial in an era where athletes increasingly own their narratives.
5. Cultural Platform: Housing the Indian Sports Honours provides athletes with owned media moments and cultural cachet beyond competition calendars.
Why Now? The Contextual Imperative
Paris 2024 marked a turning point for Indian sports with six Olympic medals and historic performances. Yet despite this talent, non-cricket athletes face systemic challenges:
The Commercial Gap is Staggering:
- Indian sports marketing: ₹10,000+ crores annually
- Cricket’s share: Over 85%
- Non-cricket’s share: Less than 15%, despite representing 99%+ of elite athletes
Elite non-cricket athletes typically earn ₹5-25 crores annually compared to cricket’s ₹200+ crores for top stars. CME aims to bridge this chasm through strategic brand-building, not just deal-brokering.
The timing aligns with government momentum (Khelo India, TOPS funding), corporate sponsors seeking authentic differentiation beyond cricket, and digital platforms democratizing athlete-fan connections.
Strategic Implications: What CME Really Means
1. Professionalization at Scale
For decades, non-cricket athletes relied on individual agents, family management, or ad-hoc arrangements. CME brings institutional-grade management—the kind cricket stars have enjoyed—to Olympic and alternative sports athletes.
2. Mainstreaming Athletes as Cultural Icons
As Bunty Sajdeh stated: “This partnership marks a significant stride in building athlete brands that transcend the boundaries of sport.” CME isn’t making athletes famous within their sports—it’s creating cultural icons who appear in mainstream entertainment, secure diverse brand partnerships, and maintain relevance beyond competition calendars.
3. Creating the Ecosystem Flywheel
Ajit Ravindran emphasizes that CME will “fuel fandom and drive greater brand interest and investment.” The critical flywheel: Investment → Professionalization → Performance → Fandom → Commercial Returns → More Investment. Breaking into this cycle has been non-cricket sports’ fundamental challenge.
4. Sustained Narrative Building
Rather than athletes being visible only during Olympics, CME’s content capabilities enable year-round storytelling that humanizes athletes, showcases their journeys, and creates emotional connections. In an attention economy, consistent compelling narratives separate cultural icons from forgotten champions.
The Advantages: Multi-Stakeholder Value
For Athletes:
- Access to Cornerstone’s brand networks and negotiation expertise
- Strategic career planning with clear positioning and legacy building
- Professional content creation maintaining authentic narratives
- Legal and financial protection against exploitation
- Cross-athlete synergies through elite roster networking
- Post-career sustainability through legacy planning
For Brands:
- Purpose-driven partnerships through authentic values alignment
- Diverse portfolio access across sports and demographics
- End-to-end campaign execution with single-point accountability
- Cultural relevance signaling progressive thinking beyond cricket
- Long-term narrative integration creating sustained consumer connections
- First-mover advantage in India’s diversifying sports landscape
For Indian Sports:
- Raised professional standards pressuring industry elevation
- Proof points attracting sponsor and investor interest
- Next-generation inspiration making diverse sports viable careers
- Year-round media coverage momentum beyond Olympic cycles
- Enhanced global positioning attracting international opportunities
The Challenges: Execution Risks
For Athletes:
- Reduced Individual Attention: Large elite rosters risk smaller sports being overshadowed
- Commercial Pressure: Balancing lucrative deals with authentic brand alignment
- Homogenization Risk: Cookie-cutter strategies diluting individual authenticity
- Dependency: Comprehensive services creating lock-in and reduced bargaining power
For CME:
- Cultural Integration: Merging Meraki’s purpose-driven philosophy with Cornerstone’s commercial pragmatism
- Service Quality at Scale: Maintaining boutique-level personalization institutionally
- Portfolio Conflicts: Managing competing athlete interests for limited opportunities
- Reputation Concentration: One scandal or misstep impacting entire roster
For the Industry:
- Reduced Competition: Smaller agencies struggling to compete for talent
- Monopolistic Tendencies: Potential unfair terms and restricted athlete access
- Development Deprioritization: Focus on established stars potentially neglecting grassroots pipelines
Critical Success Factors
1. Athlete Trust: Regular feedback, transparent communication, demonstrable results, and personal relationship maintenance despite scale.
2. Brand Partner Confidence: Clear ROI metrics, flawless execution, proactive creativity, and conflict-free recommendations.
3. Cultural Coherence: Unified CME identity distinct from parent companies through shared values and cross-team collaboration.
4. Innovation Edge: Continuous Axia evolution, technology investment, experimentation budgets, and learning culture.
5. Sustainable Economics: Rigorous financial planning, selective athlete acquisition, diversified revenue streams, and disciplined cost management.
The Financial Equation
For CME to succeed financially:
- Management fees (15-20% of athlete earnings) from 20-30 actively managed athletes
- Target average athlete revenue of ₹3-5 crores annually
- CME revenue potential: ₹15-25 crores from management fees
- Additional revenue from IP commercialization, ISH, and brand content production
The equation works if CME elevates athlete commercial value by 2-3x through strategic brand-building—precisely what the Axia framework aims to deliver.
Three Possible Futures
Transformational Success (35% probability): Athletes see 2-3x commercial growth, breakthrough cultural campaigns, portfolio expansion to 50+ athletes, international success, and eventual IPO. Catalyzed by LA 2028 medals, viral content, major global brand partnerships, and supportive government policy.
Moderate Success (45% probability): CME becomes premier non-cricket agency with meaningful but not transformational growth, sustainable profitable operations, but unchanged industry structure. Result of steady execution amid competitive pressures and market size limitations.
Disappointing Performance (20% probability): Integration challenges, athlete departures, unmet brand-building promises, financial struggles, and undifferentiated positioning. Triggered by poor Olympic performance, mismanagement, economic downturn, or internal conflicts.
The Broader Impact: Democratizing Sports Celebrity
For decades, Indian sports celebrity has been synonymous with cricket celebrity. CME’s success could fundamentally democratize fame—making mainstream recognition and financial success possible across disciplines. This inspires more kids choosing diverse sports, elevates professional standards industry-wide, shifts corporate marketing strategies beyond cricket defaults, sustains Olympic enthusiasm year-round, and levels the international playing field for Indian athletes.
Conclusion: The Test Ahead
Cornerstone Meraki Endeavour has extraordinary potential with its compelling vision, elite roster, and sophisticated Axia framework. But vision alone doesn’t guarantee success. The true test lies in delivering transformational commercial growth, successful cultural integration, maintained service quality at scale, securing long-term brand commitments, and sustaining narratives between Olympic cycles.
If CME succeeds, it catalyzes broader transformation in Indian sports—democratizing celebrity, driving investment, inspiring youth, and elevating India’s global sporting profile. If it stumbles, it becomes another cautionary tale of over-promising and under-delivering.
For India’s non-cricket athletes, CME represents hope—that their achievements will be celebrated year-round, that they can build sustainable brands and financial security, and that the next generation sees their sports as viable professional paths.
As Bunty Sajdeh articulated: “Together, we aim to foster a sustainable ecosystem that not only empowers athletes but also elevates Indian sport onto the global stage.”
October 6, 2025, marks a new chapter in Indian sports—one where non-cricket athletes finally get the platform, support, and spotlight they’ve long deserved. The game has changed. Now comes the hard part: winning it.
Analysis based on official CME press release (October 6, 2025) and independent research on Indian sports management landscape.
