TOISA 2025: UP’s stadium boom fuels grassroots-to-global sports culture

TOISA 2025: UP builds 17 new stadiums to host Times of India Sports Awards

James Okafor | GlobalBeat

Uttar Pradesh added 17 stadiums across 15 districts to stage the three-day Times of India Sports Awards that ended on Monday in Lucknow.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said the state spent $120 million on the venues and will keep them open for year-round training.

The build-out turned UP into the first Indian state to host TOISA outside Mumbai or Delhi since the ceremony began in 2015.

Sports Director Vikas Bansal told reporters that 11 arenas are already booked for national junior camps starting next month.

Construction crews finished the last turf at Ekana Boulevard only 72 hours before the awards opened, officials confirmed.

Adityanath said the deadline pressure “tested every department” but delivered infrastructure that can now host FIFA-grade football and BCCI cricket within the same week.

The state picked districts with no previous indoor hall larger than 1,000 seats, according to a nodal officer who managed land acquisition.

Each site received a 50-metre pool, eight-lane track and Wi-Fi enabled gym as part of a template shared by the sports authority, architects confirmed.

Times Group CEO Puneet Guptra said the switch from Mumbai was agreed in July 2024 after UP offered the new chain of venues “at zero rental cost”.

Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh hosted the televised show that handed 24 trophies to Olympic and Paralympic medalists from the Paris 2024 cycle.

Neeraj Chopra collected Male Athlete of the Year while Manu Bhaker won the female equivalent, organisers announced on stage.

Adityanath used the ceremony to pledge free land use for any athlete who chooses to train in UP ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

The promise mirrors a 2023 policy that already funds 75 percent of coaching costs for state-registered sportspersons, officials noted.

Cable data firm BARC said Sunday’s live telecast drew 18.7 million viewers, the highest TOISA rating since 2020.

Economists at IIM-Lucknow estimated the event injected $34 million into local hotels, taxis and catering, a figure the state tourism department quoted.

Hotel occupancy in Gomti Nagar hit 98 percent, compared with 62 percent the same weekend last year, the Federation of Hotel Associations confirmed.

Uber data showed 42,000 airport trips during the award window, triple the normal outbound volume, company spokesperson Sushma Rai said.

The rush forced IndiGo to add 22 extra flights between Delhi and Lucknow, the airline told regulators.

Background

TOISA started in 2015 as a print-only honours list by the Times of India to recognise non-cricket athletes after India won only 2 medals at the 2012 London Olympics.

The ceremony moved to televised galas in 2017, but stayed in Mumbai until 2023 when Delhi hosted a single edition at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

Uttar Pradesh has historically contributed less than 4 percent of India’s Olympic roster despite being the most populous state, according to sports ministry archives.

Previous governments built 11 stadiums between 2002 and 2017, while the current administration has added 23 since 2018, state records show.

What’s Next

The state cabinet will vote next month on a proposal to designate each new site as a regional high-performance centre with annual grants of $2 million, a minister close to the file said.

If approved, trials for admission will open on 1 October and the first resident batch of 1,200 athletes will move in by January 2026, officials told GlobalBeat.

The model could pressure other states to upgrade facilities before the 2036 Olympics that India is bidding to host, sports economists said.