Akhil Prakash

Chennaiyin Football Club & Ultimate Table Tennis | Loughborough University

Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

About

Based in Chennai, I am a sports management professional with over nine years of experience in sports management and having spent over six years at Chennaiyin Football Club, where I lead the revenue vertical. My journey began at the Aircel Chennai Open - an ATP 250 tennis tournament - and has since evolved into a passion for delivering high-quality experiences in sports. In my current role, I also serve as part of the senior leadership team for Ultimate Table Tennis, liaising with franchise partners and managing sponsorships to ensure smooth event delivery. My core skills include revenue generation, client servicing, business development, and leadership. I hold a Master’s degree in Sports Management from Loughborough University, UK, and a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from Loyola College, Chennai. Apart from living, breathing and talking sport - I also run my wedding planning agency based in Chennai - having curated over 50 weddings in the past four years and working with clients from across the globe!

Experience

  • Chennaiyin FC (On-site)
    • Chief Operating Officer
      Feb 2025 - Present · 1 yr 6 mos

      • Overseeing commercial, brand, operations, grassroots and administrative functions. • Collaborating with leadership on strategic planning and managed the club’s P&L and revenue growth.

    • Head, Sponsorship & Ticketing - Chennaiyin FC
      Apr 2022 - Feb 2025 · 2 yrs 11 mos

      • Raised sponsorship revenues – worth over Rs. 65 crore and retained over 70% of club partners for 4+ years. • Increased revenue through local partnerships – bringing in 12+ Tamil Nadu based brands to partner with the club. • Helped boost club revenues via ticketing recording a 25% growth in attendance. • Curated the Norwich City FC × Chennaiyin FC international club partnership. • Heading Ticketing for Chennaiyin FC with the role including preparing the ticketing plan for home matches, season ticket packages, manage the sales efforts with the ticketing agency and prepare the ticketing reports for the season.

    • Senior Manager, Sponsorship & Ticketing
      Apr 2019 - Mar 2022 · 3 yrs

      • Sponsorship Sales & Servicing for Chennaiyin FC, working with leading brands and maximising value delivery for them as well as the club. • Ensuring all sponsor activations are conducted smoothly. • Heading Ticketing for Chennaiyin FC involves preparing the ticketing plan for home matches, season ticket packages, manage the sales efforts with the ticketing agency and prepare the ticketing reports for the season.

  • Ultimate Table Tennis (Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India · On-site)
    • AVP, Business Development
      Apr 2022 - Present · 4 yrs 4 mos

      • Lead commercial strategy for UTT, growing franchises from 6 to 8 and managed franchise relationships. • Responsible for bringing in brands like IndianOil, Stiga, Bisleri, DafaNews, Oil India, Polyhose and Red Bull into the UTT ecosystem – recording a 60% increase in league sponsorship revenues. • Worked with broadcasters to maximize league viewership, establishing UTT as a key emerging sports league. • Forged the UTT × Dream Sports Foundation partnership to launch the elite youth competition - Dream UTT Juniors.

    • Sponsorship Manager
      Aug 2018 - Mar 2022 · 3 yrs 8 mos

      • Sponsorship Sales & Client Servicing for Ultimate Table Tennis. • Managing Commercial Guidelines and helping franchises implement the same for UTT.

  • Head of Commercial at Dani Sports Consulting
    Jan 2024 - Present · 2 yrs 7 mos

  • Co-Founder at Konduit
    Oct 2019 - Present · 6 yrs 10 mos

    Co-founded Konduit with the aim of curating organised chaos in the big fat Indian wedding industry. Helping couples & families put together their Big Day, one wedding at a time.

  • Team Coordinator - Implementation at RISE Worldwide Limited
    Nov 2017 - Aug 2018 · 10 mos