Outsourcing in the sporting arena is heating up with Satyam bagging two IT-services deal with FIFA recently. Till now the world’s largest IT-related sports contract was with Atos Origin who are the official IT partner for the Olympic games. They integrate, manage and secure the vast IT system that relays results, events and athlete information to spectators and media around the world.

The recent deal between FIFA and Satyam will see the Indian tech-giant work closely with the football association by providing IT support for their major forthcoming events, starting with the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Satyam will develop a customized event-management system, and an extranet and intranet for FIFA over the next 12 months. Though the amount of the deal has not been disclosed, the concerned parties are terming the contract as a multimillion, multiyear deal.

Sporting companies have traditionally not outsourced much work because service providers do not specialize in this area. But such partnerships with sporting and entertainment associations like the IOC or FIFA not only benefit the latter, but also the providers as these events serve as training grounds to build domain expertise.    

“There are a lot of opportunities in the sports vertical that are still to be tapped,” says Dr. Keshab Panda, Head, Satyam Europe. “But since some amount of understanding of the game is required by the service provider, outsourcing in this sector has not gained much popularity.”

The forthcoming Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India are also rumored to be outsourcing some of their services. “Since nothing is official yet, I can’t give you the details. It might be us who would be managing their IT as well,” adds Dr. Panda.