The government should "break up" the Malaysian sports industry into smaller segments, areas with high potential identified, and find ways to attract the private sector.
That is the view of sports entrepreneur Melvin Chia if the Malaysian sports industry is to further grow.
He said the local sports industry is still small compared to the more established nations but Malaysia has good potential to grow if it is approached in the right way.
Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu said recently the ministry will be focusing on developing Malaysia's sports industry from now on.
"This is not the first time we have heard that the government wants to further develop the industry, but to do this we need to have a proper plan," said Melvin.
"From what I have read, the sports industry here is worth about RM300-RM400 million, which is not much in comparison to other countries.
"We need to separate the sports industry into segments, identify areas where we have greater potential to excel in.
"The sports industry is vast — equipment retailing, television rights, ticket sales, (sports team) merchandise, sports and fitness training, sports medicine, sports tourism, facilities rental and recreational sports such as dancing — are all sub branches of the sports industry.
"We can be better in many of these. A lot of our facilities, for example, are losing money due to underutilisation and high maintenance costs.
"There needs to be a short term plan where we focus on low-hanging fruit, and we also need to identify what the long term goals are."
The International Trade and Industry Ministry estimate that Malaysians spend approximately RM430 million on sports, outdoor and recreational games.
Stressing the importance of involving the private sector to develop the industry, Melvin said Malaysia should look to how more developed nations have privatised their sports.
"To grow, you need to get the professionals involved because they know the industry well," said Melvin.
"Commercialisation of our sports is the way forward, and there are plenty of examples for us to follow out there. For example, the English Premier League, American football, ATP and WTA tennis and many others.
"Many of these leagues and tours are billion dollar businesses which are run professionally. The national sports associations in most developed sports countries only focus on development programmes as competitions are privatised.
"We need to get the private sector involved but to attract them you need to give them some incentives, (tax) rebates for example.
"The media is also important in creating interest in a particular sport. It's hard for a sport to grow without a following.
"Social media, however, has killed (traditional) sponsorship models, so we have to find a way around this."
Melvin, whose expertise is in sports event management and marketing, is also president of the Malaysian Snooker and Billiards Federation.
